Project description:Background: Around 30% of all stage II colon cancer patients will relapse and die of their disease. At present no objective parameters for identification of high-risk stage II colon cancer patients, who will benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy, are established. With traditional histopathological features definition of high-risk stage II colon cancer patients is inaccurate. Therefore more objective and robust markers for prediction of relapse are needed. DNA copy number aberrations have proven to be robust prognostic markers, but have not been investigated for this specific group of patients. The aim of the present study is to identify chromosomal aberrations that can predict relapse of tumor in patients with stage II colon cancer. Materials and Methods: DNA was isolated from 40 formaldehyde fixed paraffin embedded stage II colon cancer samples with extensive clinicopathological data. Samples where hybridized using Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) arrays to determine DNA copy number changes and microsatellite stability was determined by PCR. To analyze differences between stage II colon cancer patients with and without relapse of tumor a Wilcoxon rank-sum test was implemented with multiple testing correction Results: Patients with stage II colon cancer who had relapse of disease showed significant more losses on chromosome 4, 5, 15q, 17q and 18q. When microsatellite stable (MSS) patients were analyzed separately, only losses on chromosome 4q22.1-4q35.2 predicted worse outcome in stage II colon cancer patients. No differences in clinicopathological characteristics between patients with and without relapse were observed. Conclusion: Losses on 4q22.1-4q35.2 predict worse outcome in MSS stage II colon cancer patients and may aid in the selection of patients for adjuvant therapy.
Project description:Background: Around 30% of all stage II colon cancer patients will relapse and die of their disease. At present no objective parameters for identification of high-risk stage II colon cancer patients, who will benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy, are established. With traditional histopathological features definition of high-risk stage II colon cancer patients is inaccurate. Therefore more objective and robust markers for prediction of relapse are needed. DNA copy number aberrations have proven to be robust prognostic markers, but have not been investigated for this specific group of patients. The aim of the present study is to identify chromosomal aberrations that can predict relapse of tumor in patients with stage II colon cancer. Materials and Methods: DNA was isolated from 40 formaldehyde fixed paraffin embedded stage II colon cancer samples with extensive clinicopathological data. Samples where hybridized using Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) arrays to determine DNA copy number changes and microsatellite stability was determined by PCR. To analyze differences between stage II colon cancer patients with and without relapse of tumor a Wilcoxon rank-sum test was implemented with multiple testing correction Results: Patients with stage II colon cancer who had relapse of disease showed significant more losses on chromosome 4, 5, 15q, 17q and 18q. When microsatellite stable (MSS) patients were analyzed separately, only losses on chromosome 4q22.1-4q35.2 predicted worse outcome in stage II colon cancer patients. No differences in clinicopathological characteristics between patients with and without relapse were observed. Conclusion: Losses on 4q22.1-4q35.2 predict worse outcome in MSS stage II colon cancer patients and may aid in the selection of patients for adjuvant therapy. 40 Stage II colorectal cancer (CRC) tissue samples (FFPE), 16 with and 24 without relapse of tumor
Project description:Genome wide miRNA expression profiling was performed using Affymetric miRNA v. 3.0 Array on 48 samples which included paired FFPE colon tuomor and metastisized liver and paired normal colon, normal liver). The data set was divided into two categories and identified by tissue source and patient demographics: Tissue (Colon, Liver), Source (Colon Tumor Liver Met, Colon Normal, Liver Normal), Sex (Male, Female), Patient Pair. microRNAs (miRs) are frequently dysregulated in colorectal cancer (CRC) and subsets are correlated with advanced tumor stage and metastasis. Despite this, the development of prognostic biomarkers that predict metastatic potential remain limited. Our study was designed to identify, validate, and elucidate underlying biology imposed by a miR signature that defines and predicts metastatic disease. Genome-wide miR expression profiling was performed on fourteen patient-matched stage IV primary CRC tumors and corresponding liver metastases using microRNA array technology. Based on these results, this miR panel was then validated and evaluated in normal colon tissue (N = 5), early stage (I & II, N = 11) and late stage (Stage III & IV, N = 14) colorectal primary tumors via qRT-PCR.
Project description:Background and Aims: Staging inadequately predicts metastatic risk in colon cancer patients. We used a gene expression profile derived from invasive murine colon cancer cells that were highly metastatic in an immunocompetent mouse model to identify colon cancer patients at risk for recurrence in a phase I, exploratory biomarker study. Methods: 55 colorectal cancer patients from Vanderbilt Medical Center (VMC) were used as the training dataset and 177 patients from the Moffitt Cancer Center were used as the independent dataset. The metastasis-associated gene expression profile developed from the mouse model was refined using comparative functional genomics in the VMC gene expression profiles to identify a 34-gene classifier associated with high risk of metastasis and death from colon cancer. A recurrence score derived from the biologically based classifier was tested in the Moffitt dataset. Results: A high score was significantly associated with increased risk of metastasis and death from colon cancer across all pathological stages and specifically in stage II and stage III patients. The recurrence score was shown to independently predict risk of cancer recurrence and death in both univariate and multivariate models. For example, among stage III patients, a high score translated to increased relative risk for cancer recurrence (hazard ratio = 4.7 (95% CI=1.566-14.05)). Furthermore, the recurrence score identified stage III patients whose five-year recurrence-free survival was >88% and for whom adjuvant chemotherapy did not provide improved survival. Conclusion: Our biologically based gene expression profile yielded a potentially useful classifier to predict cancer recurrence and death independently of conventional measures in colon cancer patients. Experiment Overall Design: Gene expression array differences between highly invasive mouse colon cancer cells and non-invasive colon cancer cells were used to develop a metastasis gene expression profile. It was refined using gene expression data from 55 patient (VMC) samples and trained using 177 patient (Moffitt) samples.
Project description:Background and Aims: Staging inadequately predicts metastatic risk in colon cancer patients. We used a gene expression profile derived from invasive murine colon cancer cells that were highly metastatic in an immunocompetent mouse model to identify colon cancer patients at risk for recurrence in a phase I, exploratory biomarker study. Methods: 55 colorectal cancer patients from Vanderbilt Medical Center (VMC) were used as the training dataset and 177 patients from the Moffitt Cancer Center were used as the independent dataset. The metastasis-associated gene expression profile developed from the mouse model was refined using comparative functional genomics in the VMC gene expression profiles to identify a 34-gene classifier associated with high risk of metastasis and death from colon cancer. A recurrence score derived from the biologically based classifier was tested in the Moffitt dataset. Results: A high score was significantly associated with increased risk of metastasis and death from colon cancer across all pathological stages and specifically in stage II and stage III patients. The recurrence score was shown to independently predict risk of cancer recurrence and death in both univariate and multivariate models. For example, among stage III patients, a high score translated to increased relative risk for cancer recurrence (hazard ratio = 4.7 (95% CI=1.566-14.05)). Furthermore, the recurrence score identified stage III patients whose five-year recurrence-free survival was >88% and for whom adjuvant chemotherapy did not provide improved survival. Conclusion: Our biologically based gene expression profile yielded a potentially useful classifier to predict cancer recurrence and death independently of conventional measures in colon cancer patients. Experiment Overall Design: Gene expression array differences between highly invasive mouse colon cancer cells and non-invasive colon cancer cells were used to develop a metastasis gene expression profile. It was refined using gene expression data from 55 patient (VMC) samples and trained using 177 patient (Moffitt) samples.