Athanasios Tampakis, Benjamin Weixler, Silvan Rast, Ekaterini-Christina Tampaki, Eleonora Cremonesi, Venkatesh Kancherla, Nadia Tosti, Christoph Kettelhack, Charlotte K Y Ng, Tarik Delko, Savas D Soysal, Urs von Holzen, Evangelos Felekouras, Nikolaos Nikiteas, Martin Bolli, Luigi Tornillo, Luigi Terracciano, Serenella Eppenberger-Castori, Giulio C Spagnoli, Salvatore Piscuoglio, Markus von Flüe, Silvio Däster, Raoul A Droeser
Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden) 2021 JunNestin, a class VI intermediate filament protein of the cytoskeleton, and CD34, a transmembrane phosphoglycoprotein, are markers of progenitor cells. This study aimed to evaluate their expression and clinical significance in colorectal cancer. A clinically annotated tissue microarray, including 599 patients with colorectal cancer, was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, nestin and CD34 correlations with HIF-1a and a panel of cytokines and chemokines were assessed using quantitative reverse transcription PCR and The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset. Expression of nestin and CD34 was observed only in the tumor stroma. Patients displaying high expression of nestin and CD34 demonstrated higher rates of T1 and T2 tumors (p = .020), lower vascular invasion (p < .001) and improved 5-year overall survival (65%; 95% CI = 55-73 vs 45%; 95% CI = 37-53) after adjusting for clinicopathological characteristics (HR: 0.67; 95% CI = 0.46-0.96). A moderate to strong correlation (r = 0.37-0.78, p < .03) of nestin and CD34 was demonstrated for the following markers; HIF-1α, CD4, CD8, FOXP3, IRF1, GATA3, CCL2, CCL3, CXCL12 and CCL21. Combined expression of nestin and CD34 expression is associated with better overall survival possibly by modulating a favorable immune response.
Athanasios Tampakis, Benjamin Weixler, Silvan Rast, Ekaterini-Christina Tampaki, Eleonora Cremonesi, Venkatesh Kancherla, Nadia Tosti, Christoph Kettelhack, Charlotte K Y Ng, Tarik Delko, Savas D Soysal, Urs von Holzen, Evangelos Felekouras, Nikolaos Nikiteas, Martin Bolli, Luigi Tornillo, Luigi Terracciano, Serenella Eppenberger-Castori, Giulio C Spagnoli, Salvatore Piscuoglio, Markus von Flüe, Silvio Däster, Raoul A Droeser. Nestin and CD34 expression in colorectal cancer predicts improved overall survival. Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden). 2021 Jun;60(6):727-734
PMID: 33734917
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