Identification of Nkx2-3 and TGFB1I1 expression levels as potential biomarkers to predict the effects of FOLFOX4 chemotherapy

Cancer Biol Ther. 2012 Apr;13(6):443-9. doi: 10.4161/cbt.19298. Epub 2012 Apr 1.

Abstract

This study was designed to detect global gene expressions of primary advanced colorectal cancer (ACC) patients who have undergone FOLFOX4 chemotherapy and screen valuable biomarkers to predict the effects of chemotherapy. Samples from primary ACC patients who have undergone FOLFOX4 chemotherapy were collected. Their chemotherapy effects were evaluated and divided into chemotherapy sensitive group (experimental group) and non-sensitive group (control group). Cancerous tissue gene expression profiles were detected by chip technology. Two groups with differentially expressed genes were screened by cluster analysis and significance analysis of microarrays (SAM). Valuable biomarkers were screened by bioinformatics analysis. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to characterize the pattern of Nkx2-3 and TGFB1I1 expression. Nkx2-3 and TGFB1I1 signal log ratio were used Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses to calculate its own predicting accuracy. Thirty cases were divided into experimental group (13 cases) and control group (17 cases). There was evident difference in the tumor cell biology states of the two groups; that is, 25 ESTs (21 genes) were upregulated and 5 ESTs (5 genes) were downregulated. Nkx2-3 protein was observed on the nucleus of the cancer cells and TGFB1I1 protein was observed on the nucleus and cytoplasm of the cancer cells in experimental group. Their prediction accuracies were 85.3% and 76.7% respectively. Nkx2-3 and TGFB1I1 expressions in control group are very low, but highly expressed in the experimental group; Nkx2-3 and TGFB1I1 may be classified as valuable biomarkers, as these can predict the effects of primary ACC patients who will undergo FOLFOX4.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use*
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics*
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cell Nucleus / genetics
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Expressed Sequence Tags
  • Female
  • Fluorouracil / therapeutic use
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Homeodomain Proteins / genetics*
  • Homeodomain Proteins / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / genetics*
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / metabolism
  • LIM Domain Proteins / genetics*
  • LIM Domain Proteins / metabolism
  • Leucovorin / therapeutic use
  • Male
  • Microarray Analysis
  • Middle Aged
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
  • Organoplatinum Compounds / therapeutic use
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • ROC Curve
  • Transcription Factors / genetics*
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Homeodomain Proteins
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • LIM Domain Proteins
  • NKX2-3 protein, human
  • Organoplatinum Compounds
  • TGFB1I1 protein, human
  • Transcription Factors
  • Leucovorin
  • Fluorouracil

Supplementary concepts

  • Folfox protocol