Background The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of computed tomography (CT) attenuation and F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) to predict peritoneal recurrence-free survival (RFS) as well as RFS and overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Methods We retrospectively enrolled 117 patients with AGC who underwent staging FDG positron emission tomography (PET)/CT and subsequent curative surgical resection. CT attenuation and FDG uptake (SUV) of VAT and maximum FDG uptake of primary tumor (SUVmaxT) were measured from PET/CT images. The relationship of VAT attenuation and SUV with clinico-histopathologic factors and survival was assessed. Results There was a significant positive correlation between VAT attenuation and SUV (p < 0.001, r = 0.799). In correlation analyses, both VAT attenuation and SUV showed significant positive correlations with T stage, TNM stage, tumor size, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (p < 0.05), and patients who experienced recurrence during the first 3-year after surgery had significantly higher VAT attenuation and SUV than those who had no recurrence (p < 0.05). Patients with high VAT attenuation and SUV showed significantly worse RFS, peritoneal RFS, and OS than those with low values (p < 0.05). On multivariate survival analysis, VAT attenuation was significantly associated with peritoneal RFS and OS and VAT SUV was significantly associated with OS (p < 0.05). Conclusions CT attenuation and FDG uptake of VAT on staging FDG PET/CT were correlated with tumor characteristics and were significant predictive factors for peritoneal RFS and OS in patients with AGC.

Background: Cysteine-rich 61 (Cyr61), a member of the CCN protein family, possesses diverse functionality in cellular processes such as adhesion, migration, proliferation, and survival. Cyr61 can also function as an oncogene or a tumour suppressor, depending on the origin of the cancer. Only a few studies have reported Cyr61 expression in colorectal cancer. In this study, we assessed the Cyr61 expression in 251 colorectal cancers with clinical follow up. Methods: We examined Cyr61 expression in 6 colorectal cancer cell lines (HT29, Colo205, Lovo, HCT116, SW480, SW620) and 20 sets of paired normal and colorectal cancer tissues by western blot. To validate the association of Cyr61 expression with clinicopathological parameters, we assessed Cyr61 expression using tissue microarray analysis of primary colorectal cancer by immunohistochemical analysis. Results: We verified that all of the cancer cell lines expressed Cyr61; 2 cell lines (HT29 and Colo205) demonstrated Cyr61 expression to a slight extent, while 4 cell lines (Lovo, HCT116, SW480, SW620) demonstrated greater Cyr61 expression than HT29 and Colo205 cell lines. Among the 20 cases of paired normal and tumour tissues, greater Cyr61 expression was observed in 16 (80%) tumour tissues than in normal tissues. Furthermore, 157 out of 251 cases (62.5%) of colorectal cancer examined in this study displayed strong Cyr61 expression. Cyr61 expression was found to be associated with pN (p = 0.018). Moreover, Cyr61 expression was associated with statistically significant cancer-specific mortality (p = 0.029). The duration of survival was significantly lesser in patients with Cyr61 high expression than in patients with Cyr61 low expression (p = 0.001). These results suggest that Cyr61 expression plays several important roles in carcinogenesis and may also be a good prognostic marker for colorectal cancer. Conclusions: Our data confirmed that Cyr61 was expressed in colorectal cancers and the expression was correlated with worse prognosis of colorectal cancers.

Kim H, et al. Ann Surg Treat Res. 2019 Apr;96(4):191-200. https://doi.org/10.4174/astr.2019.96.4.191

Son MW, et al. J Gastric Cancer. 2014 Dec;14(4):246-251. http://dx.doi.org/10.5230/jgc.2014.14.4.246

Uncovering tumor markers of colorectal cancer is important for the early detection and prognosis of the patients. Spermine oxidase (SMOX) is upregulated in various cancers. The present study aims to explore the biologic function and expression patterns of SMOX in colorectal cancer (CRC), the third most common type of cancer worldwide. We used quantitative real-time PCR, Western blot, and in vitro functional studies in four CRC cell lines knocked down by SMOX siRNA and immunohistochemistry in 350 cases of CRC tissues. The results showed that SMOX was overexpressed in CRC cell lines and clinical samples. SMOX overexpression in tumor tissues was an independent prognostic factor, worsening overall survival (p = 0.001). The knock-down of SMOX inhibited CRC cell proliferation, invasion, and soft agar colony formation, uncovering its carcinogenic functions. This study indicated that SMOX overexpression could be an important oncogene in CRC and might serve as a valuable prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target for CRC.

Kim KJ, et al. J Gastric Cancer. 2015 Sep;15(3):201-208. http://dx.doi.org/10.5230/jgc.2015.15.3.201