Single incision laparoscopic colectomy (SILC) and single incision robotic colectomy (SIRC) are both advanced minimally invasive operative techniques. However, studies comparing these two surgical methods have not been published. The purpose of this study is to compare and evaluate the short-term outcomes of SIRC with those of SILC. A total of 21 consecutive patients underwent SIRC and 136 consecutive patients underwent SILC in separate institutes between January 2013 and December 2019. We used retrospective cohort matching to analyze these patients. Prior to matching, patients who underwent SIRC had a lower percentage of American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grades III-IV (5% vs. 19%, P = 0.11) compared with patients who underwent SILC. The SIRC group revealed a higher proportion of sigmoid colon lesions and anterior resections than the SILC group (61% vs. 45%, P = 0.16). After 1:4 cohort matching, 21 patients were enrolled in the SIRC group and 84 patients were enrolled in the SILC group. No statistically significant difference in terms of operative time (SIRC: 185 ± 46 min, SILC: 208 ± 53 min; P = 0.51), estimated blood loss (SIRC: 12 ± 22 ml, SILC: 85 ± 234 ml; P = 0.12), and complications (SIRC: 4.7%, SIRC: 7.1%; P = 0.31) was observed between these groups. Length of postoperative hospital stay (SIRC: 8.3 ± 1.7 days, SILC: 9.3 ± 6.5; P = 0.10) and number of harvested lymph nodes (SIRC: 21.3 ± 10.3, SILC: 21.3 ± 9.5; P = 0.77) were also similar between the two groups. In subgroup analysis, numbers of harvested lymph node is less in SIRC than SILC (SIRC: 18.1 ± 4.7 vs. SILC: 18.9 ± 8.1, P = 0.04) in anterior resection. SIRC and SILC are safe and feasible procedures with similar surgical and pathological outcomes for right- and left-side colectomy.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent malignant tumors, and it contributes to high numbers of deaths globally. Although advances in understanding CRC molecular mechanisms have shed significant light on its pathogenicity, current treatment options, including combined chemotherapy and molecular-targeted agents, are still limited due to resistance, with almost 25% of patients developing distant metastasis. Therefore, identifying novel biomarkers for early diagnosis is crucial, as they will also influence strategies for new targeted therapies. The proto-oncogene, c-Met, a tyrosine kinase that promotes cell proliferation, motility, and invasion; c-MYC, a transcription factor associated with the modulation of the cell cycle, proliferation, apoptosis; and cyclin D1 (CCND1), an essential regulatory protein in the cell cycle, all play crucial roles in cancer progression. In the present study, we explored computational simulations through bioinformatics analysis and identified the overexpression of c-Met/GSK3β/MYC/CCND1 oncogenic signatures that were associated with cancer progression, drug resistance, metastasis, and poor clinical outcomes in CRC. We further demonstrated the anticancer activities of our newly synthesized quinoline-derived compound, NSC772864, against panels of the National Cancer Institute’s human CRC cell lines. The compound exhibited cytotoxic activities against various CRC cell lines. Using target prediction tools, we found that c-Met/GSK3β/MYC/CCND1 were target genes for the NSC772864 compound. Subsequently, we performed in silico molecular docking to investigate protein–ligand interactions and discovered that NSC772864 exhibited higher binding affinities with these oncogenes compared to FDA-approved drugs. These findings strongly suggest that NSC772864 is a novel and potential antiCRC agent.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers, and it frequently metastasizes to the liver and lymph nodes. Despite major advances in treatment modalities, CRC remains a poorly characterized biological malignancy, with high reported cases of deaths globally. Moreover, cancer stem cells (CSCs) and their microenvironment have been widely shown to promote colon cancer development, progression, and metastasis. Therefore, an understanding of the underlying mechanisms that contribute to the maintenance of CSCs and their markers in CRC is crucial in efforts to treat cancer metastasis and develop specific therapeutic targets for augmenting current standard treatments. Herein, we applied computational simulations using bioinformatics to identify potential theranostic markers for CRC. We identified the overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor-α (VEGFA)/β-catenin/matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-7/Cluster of Differentiation 44 (CD44) in CRC to be associated with cancer progression, stemness, resistance to therapy, metastasis, and poor clinical outcomes. To further investigate, we explored in silico molecular docking, which revealed potential inhibitory activities of LCC-21 as a potential multitarget small molecule for VEGF-A/CTNNB1/MMP7/CD44 oncogenic signatures, with the highest binding affinities displayed. We validated these finding in vitro and demonstrated that LCC-21 inhibited colony and sphere formation, migration, and invasion, and these results were further confirmed by a Western blot analysis in HCT116 and DLD-1 cells. Thus, the inhibitory effects of LCC-21 on these angiogenic and onco-immunogenic signatures could be of translational relevance as potential CRC biomarkers for early diagnosis.