Clinical efficacy and prognostic factors of CT-guided radioactive iodine-125 seed implantation for the treatment of superficial soft tissue metastasis: a 12-year retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: Superficial soft tissue metastasis (S-STM) of malignant tumors is uncommon and often brings great pain to patients. However, current treatment options are limited. The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical efficacy and prognostic factors of CT-guided radioactive iodine-125 (125I) seed implantation (RISI) for the treatment of S-STM. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 132 patients with S-STM who received RISI between June 2010 and July 2022. Local tumor progression-free survival (ltPFS), tumor response, pain control and complication were analyzed. The independent factors affecting ltPFS were screened out using a layered Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: The median follow-up time was 8.3 months (interquartile range [IQR], 4.5-15.3 months). The objective response rate (ORR) was 81.8%. The median ltPFS was 9.1 (95% CI: 6.6, 11.6) months. The Cox proportional hazard regression model revealed that the independent factors influencing ltPFS included KPS score, primary tumor, metastases, boundary, density and postoperative D90 (All P < 0.05). After RISI, the rate of pain relief was 92.3%. 66 (84.6%) patients reported pain marked relief, and 6 (7.7%) experienced pain moderate relief. No severe adverse events associated with RISI were observed during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: CT-guided RISI was associated with high local control and pain relief without severe adverse events and should be considered as a reliable palliative treatment modality for S-STM. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trial registration Retrospectively registered.

Integrating surface structure via triphenyl phosphate treatment to stabilize Li-rich Mn-based cathode materials.

Li-rich Mn-based layered oxides (LLOs) have emerged as one of the most promising cathode materials for the next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) because of their high energy density, high specific capacity, and environmental friendliness. These materials, however, have drawbacks such as capacity degradation, low initial coulombic efficiency (ICE), voltage decay, and poor rate performance due to irreversible oxygen release and structural deterioration during cycling. Herein, we present a facile method of triphenyl phosphate (TPP) surface treatment to create an integrated surface structure on LLOs that includes oxygen vacancies, Li3PO4, and carbon. When used for LIBs, the treated LLOs show an increased initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 83.6% and capacity retention of 84.2% at 1C after 200 cycles. It is suggested that the enhanced performance of the treated LLOs can be attributed to the synergetic functions of each component in the integrated surface, such as the oxygen vacancy and Li3PO4 being able to inhibit the evolution of oxygen and accelerate the transport of lithium ions, while the carbon layer can restrain undesirable interfacial side reactions and reduce the dissolution of transition metals. Furthermore, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) prove an enhanced kinetic property of the treated LLOs cathode, and ex-situ X-ray diffractometer shows a suppressed structural transformation of TPP-treated LLOs during the battery reaction. This study provides an effective strategy for constructing an integrated surface structure on LLOs to achieve high-energy cathode materials in LIBs.

CT-guided Radioactive 125I Seed Implantation for Abdominal Incision Metastases of Colorectal Cancer: Safety and Efficacy in 17 Patients.

INTRODUCTION: To retrospectively evaluate the safety and efficacy of computed tomography (CT)-guided iodine-125 (125I) seed implantation for patients with abdominal incision metastases from colorectal cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data of patients with abdominal incision metastases of colorectal cancer from November 2010 to October 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Each incisional metastasis was percutaneously treated with 125I seed implantation under CT guidance. Follow-up contrast-enhanced CT was reviewed, and the outcomes were evaluated in terms of objective response rate, complications, and overall survival. RESULTS: A total of 17 patients were enrolled in this study. The median follow-up was 18 months (range, 2.7-22.1 months). At 3, 6, 12, and 18 months after the treatment, objective response rate was 52.9%, 63.6%, 33.3%, and 0%, respectively. A small amount of local hematoma occurred in two patients and resolved spontaneously without any treatment. Two patients experienced a minor displacement of radioactive seeds with no related symptoms. Severe complications, such as massive bleeding and radiation injury, were not observed. No ≥ grade 3 adverse events were identified. By the end of follow-up, 14 patients died of multiple hematogenous metastases. The one-year overall survival rate was 41.6%, and the median overall survival was 8.6 months. CONCLUSION: CT-guided 125I seed implantation brachytherapy is safe and feasible for patients with abdominal incision metastases from colorectal cancer.

Hepatic Artery Infusion Pump Combined With Systemic Chemotherapy for Patients With Liver Metastases From Breast Carcinoma.

Background: When liver metastasis in patients with breast cancer is diagnosed, treatment is generally palliative and usually consists of systemic therapies only. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) combined with systemic chemotherapy in patients with breast carcinoma liver metastases (BCLM). Methods: From January 2012 to December 2019, HAI catheter systems were implanted under the guide of digital subtract angiography (DSA) in 19 patients with BCLM. All patients received systemic chemotherapy and HAI gemcitabine plus floxuridine (FUDR). Methods: The overall response rate (ORR) of intrahepatic lesions was 73.7%, including 2 patients (10.5%) with complete remission (CR) and 12 patients (63.2%) with partial remission (PR). Additionally, we found that young patients (age < 55 years) had a higher ORR than the older (100% vs 44.4%, P = .011). The median overall survival (mOS) was 13.1 months. Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated that the mOS was not significantly different between patients with < 9 intrahepatic lesions and those with ≥ 9 lesions (13.7 months vs 10.9 months, P = .225). The mOS was 14.3 and 10.6 months for patients without extrahepatic metastases and with extrahepatic metastases, respectively (P = .016). None of the patients had grade 4 toxicity. The grade 3 toxicities included leucopenia, neutropenia and diarrhea. Conclusions: HAI gemcitabine plus FUDR combined with systemic chemotherapy is effective in achieving a high local response and prolonging mOS for patients with BCLM and is associated with a relatively low rate of toxicity.

Case Report: Successful Control of Pulmonary Metastatic Pheochromocytoma With Iodine-125 Seed Implantation.

Pheochromocytoma with lung metastases is rare in clinics, and the prognosis of metastatic pheochromocytoma is generally poor. In this case, a 57-year-old woman who presented with hypertension and palpitations was diagnosed with left adrenal pheochromocytoma with lung metastasis in 2010. The patient received left adrenalectomy for pheochromocytoma 10 years ago, but pulmonary lesions had significant progression 7 years ago. The patient was treated with iodine-125 (125I) seed implantation for pulmonary lesions. All of the 5 pulmonary lesions achieved partial response 6 months later, further shrank 1 year later, and were successfully controlled for 7 years. This case indicated that 125I seed implantation could be an alternative local therapy for metastatic pheochromocytoma in the lung.

Hepatic Artery Infusion of Floxuridine in Combination With Systemic Chemotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer Liver Metastasis: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis in Two Centers.

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of hepatic artery infusion (HAI) of floxuridine (FUDR) in combination with systemic chemotherapy in patients with pancreatic cancer liver metastases (PCLM). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively collected clinical data of 347 patients with PCLM who underwent first-line chemotherapy at two Chinese centers between 2012 and 2019. Propensity score matching between patients with and without HAI was performed to compensate for differences in baseline characteristics. Objective response rate (ORR) and overall survival (OS) between groups were compared. HAI pump functionality was recorded. RESULTS: Data of 258 patients (62 patients with HAI and 196 patients without HAI) were used for matching. After 1:1 ratio matching, 62 patients per group were included. The intrahepatic ORR was 66.1% in the HAI group and 22.6% in the non-HAI group (P < 0.001), and the extrahepatic ORR was 25.0 versus 28.9% (P = 0.679). The median OS was significantly longer in HAI group (14.0 versus 10.8 months, P = 0.001). Multivariance COX regression showed HAI led to a decrease in hazard ratio for death by 61.8% (HR = 0.382; 95% CI: 0.252-0.578; P< 0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that patients without EHM, with higher intrahepatic tumor burden and with synchronous liver metastasis benefited more from HAI. Dysfunction of HAI pump occurred in 5.7% of patients during the period of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with PCLM, first-line treatment with HAI FUDR plus SCT resulted in higher intrahepatic response and better OS.

Hepatic Arterial Infusion Combined with Systemic Chemotherapy for Patients with Extensive Liver Metastases from Gastric Cancer.

PURPOSE: Liver metastases in patients with gastric cancer often indicate poor prognosis. Once liver metastases are extensive, it is difficult to achieve disease control by using systemic chemotherapy alone. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect and safety of hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) combined with systemic chemotherapy on extensive liver metastases from gastric cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 2012 and 2019, 21 patients with extensive liver metastases from gastric cancer (LMGC) were enrolled in our study. Liver metastases were identified as unresectable and a major factor affecting prognosis mainly based on size and number of intrahepatic lesions. All patients received systemic chemotherapy with S-1 and HAI oxaliplatin plus floxuridine (FUDR). RESULTS: Liver metastases in 16 patients (76.2%) were evaluated as H3. The overall response rate was 76.2% (9.5% complete response). Intrahepatic and extrahepatic median progression-free survival times were 9.5 and 5.2 months, respectively. Median survival time (MST) was 12.3 months. All patients did not have the toxicity of grade 4. Grade 3 toxic effects included bone marrow suppression (14.3%) and diarrhea (9.5%). The other treatment-related toxicities were mild and reversible. CONCLUSION: HAI combined with systemic chemotherapy for extensive LMGC seems to be safe and effective, which achieves a high-local response and may contribute to long survival time for patients.

Inflammation induced by incomplete radiofrequency ablation accelerates tumor progression and hinders PD-1 immunotherapy.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) promotes tumor antigen-specific T cell responses and enhances the effect of immunotherapy in preclinical settings. Here we report that the existence of remnant tumor masses due to incomplete RFA (iRFA) is associated with earlier new metastases and poor survival in patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases (CRCLM). Using mouse models, we demonstrate that iRFA promotes tumor progression and hinders the efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy. Immune analysis reveals that iRFA induces sustained local inflammation with predominant myeloid suppressor cells, which inhibit T cell function in tumors. Mechanistically, tumor cell-derived CCL2 is critical for the accumulation of monocytes and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). The crosstalk between TAMs and tumor cells enhances the CCL2 production by tumor cells. Furthermore, we find that administration of a CCR2 antagonist or the loss of CCL2 expression in tumor cells enhances the antitumor activity of PD-1 blockade, providing a salvage alternative for residual tumors after iRFA.

Over-expression of Nectin-4 promotes progression of esophageal cancer and correlates with poor prognosis of the patients.

BACKGROUND: Nectin-4, also known as PVRL4 (poliovirus-receptor-like 4), is specifically expressed in the embryo and placenta. Recent studies have reported that the Nectin-4 is over-expressed in multiple human cancers, and such abnormal expression is associated with cancer progression and poor prognosis of the patients. In the present study, we aimed to characterize the expression pattern of Nectin-4 in human esophageal cancer (EC) tissues, and to investigate its clinical implications, prognostic value and regulatory effects on cellular functions of EC cells. METHODS: In the present study, we first examined Nectin-4 expression in human EC tissues by using immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay and analyzed the clinical associations. Then the cellular studies in vitro and the nude mice tumor model in vivo were used to examine the regulatory role of Nectin-4 in the progression of EC. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that over-expression of Nectin-4 in human EC tissues was significantly associated with tumor size, depth of tumor invasion, and poor prognosis of the patients. The intervention of Nectin-4 expression in EC cell lines showed that the increased Nectin-4 expression could significantly promote the cell viability, migration, invasion and tumor formation. CONCLUSIONS: Our present data unveiled that Nectin-4 played an important role in tumor biology and could serve as a useful prognostic predictor of human EC.

Tanshinone IIA inhibits cervix carcinoma stem cells migration and invasion via inhibiting YAP transcriptional activity.

This study aims to explore the effects and related mechanisms of Tanshinone IIA in cervix carcinoma (CC) stemness-like cells migration, invasion, stemness and chemotherapeutical sensitivity. Here, we found that Tanshinone IIA suppressed CC stemness-like cells migration and invasion in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. And consistent results were obtained in CC cells stemness characterized as the decrease of CC stemness markers expression and cells spheroid formation ability. Mechanistically, we found that Tanshinone IIA suppressed RNA binding protein HuR translocation from nuclear to cytoplasm, and thus reduced YAP mRNAs stability and transcriptional activity. Importantly, overexpression YAP-5SA rescued the inhibition of Tanshinone IIA on CC cells stemness. Furthermore, Tanshinone IIA enhanced adriamycin sensitivity in CC stemness-like cells, this effect was attenuated by YAP-5SA overexpression too. Therefore, Tanshinone IIA could suppress CC stemness-like cells migration and invasion by inhibiting YAP transcriptional activity.

PD-1/PD-L1 expression in non-small-cell lung cancer and its correlation with EGFR/KRAS mutations.

This study was aimed to detect the correlation among EGFR/KRAS status and PD-1/PD-L1 expression in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. PD-1 and PD-L1 expressions were detected by immunohistochemistry in 100 surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma tissues and were statistically correlated with clinicopathological characteristics including EGFR and KRAS statuses. Besides, the overall survival (OS) times were analyzed. There was a statistical significances between PD-1 expression in tumor and KRAS status (P = 0.043), with a higher mutation rate in with lower PD-1 expression patients. There was a statistical significance between PD-L1 expression in tumor and EGFR status (P = 0.012), with a higher mutation rate in patients with lower PD-L1 expression. The OS of patients with EGFR mutation was significantly longer than those without EGFR mutation. The OS of patients with lower PD-L1 in tumor was significantly longer than those with higher PD-L1 expression. We found negative associations between PD-L1 expression in tumor and mutated EGFR status, as well as between PD-1 expression in tumor and mutated KRAS status.

Expression of Tim-3 in gastric cancer tissue and its relationship with prognosis.

As a negative regulatory molecule, T-cell immunoglobulin-and mucin domain-3 (Tim-3) plays a crucial role in the tumor immunological tolerance. In the present study, we aimed to determine the Tim-3 expression in gastric cancer tissue and its relationship with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis. The Tim-3 expression was assessed in 52 gastric cancer specimens and 15 gastritis tissues by flow cytometry, and gastritis tissues served as the control. As a result, we found that the Tim-3 expressions on CD4(+)T cells and CD8(+)T cells in gastric cancer tissue was significantly higher than those in gastritis tissue (P=0.022, P=0.047, respectively). The median expression level of Tim-3 on CD4(+)T cells were significantly correlated with clinicopathological parameters, such as tumor size, lymph node metastasis, the depth of tumor invasion and TNM staging (P=0.042, P=0.026, P=0.001, P=0.003, respectively), while it was not correlated with sex, age and histological subtype (all P>0.05). In CD8(+)T cells, the Tim-3 expression was relevant to tumor invasion and TNM staging (P=0.035, P=0.017, respectively), while it was irrelevant to other clinicopathological parameters (all P>0.05). Additionally, Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that the median overall survival time of patients with lower Tim-3 expression was greater than that of patients with higher Tim-3 expression in CD4(+)T cells and CD8(+)T cells (χ(2)=18.036, P<0.001 and χ(2)=18.036, P<0.001, respectively). Moreover, the multivariate analysis revealed that the Tim-3 expression and TNM stage were independent prognostic factors for gastric cancer patients (P=0.029, P=0.043 and P=0.003, respectively). These results suggest that Tim-3 played an important role in the development and progression of gastric cancer, and it could be used as an independent prognostic factor for gastric cancer patients.

Serum lemur tyrosine kinase-3: a novel biomarker for screening primary non-small cell lung cancer and predicting cancer progression.

PURPOSE: We aimed to determine the expression level of serum soluble lemur tyrosine kinase-3 (sLMTK3) in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to examine whether the s sLMTK3 level could be used as a biomarker to screen primary NSCLC and to predict lung cancer progression. METHODS: Serum levels of sLMTK3 in 67 patients with primary NSCLC, 28 patients with lung benign lesion, and 53 healthy volunteers were measured by sandwich ELISA. LMTK3 protein expression in NSCLC tissues and normal lung tissues was also detected by using immunohistochemical staining. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was selected to evaluate the sensitivity and the specificity of serum sLMTK3 level. RESULTS: The mean concentration of sLMTK3 in NSCLC group was significantly higher than in the lung benign lesion group (P < 0.001) and the healthy control group (P < 0.001). Higher sLMTK3 level was correlated with age (P = 0.013), tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (P < 0.001), and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.001) of NSCLC. In contrast to the normal lung tissues, increased LMTK3 expression was found in the NSCLC tissues, and was mainly located on the cytoplasm and the nuclei of cancer cells. For separating NSCLC from control group, the corresponding areas under the ROC curve (AUC) were 0.947 for sLMTK3 and 0.804 for CEA. With cutoffs of 10.05 ng/ml for sLMTK3 and 5.0 ng/ml for CEA respectively, the sensitivity and the specificity of sLMTK3 and CEA were, 80.60% and 97.53%, 35.82% and 96.30%, respectively, indicating better diagnostic value of sLMTK3. CONCLUSIONS: The sLMTK3 level was significantly increased in human NSCLC, and could be used as a potential and valuable biomarker for screening primary NSCLC and for predicting the progression of patients with this malignancy.

Serum ferritin is elevated in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients and is associated with efficacy of platinum-based chemotherapy.

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the expression levels of serum ferritin (SF) and investigate the correlation between SF expression levels and clinical characteristics as well as the efficacy to platinum-based chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Electrochemiluminescence method was used to determine the expression levels of SF in the peripheral blood of 46 advanced NSCLC patients and 63 healthy subjects. RESULTS: The expression levels of SF in healthy subjects were significantly lower than those in patients with advanced NSCLC patients (t = -3.279,P = 0.001). There was a statistically significant difference between SF expression levels and distant metastasis, regional lymph node metastasis, respectively (P < 0.05). However, there was no correlation between SF expression levels and sex, age, eastern cooperative oncology group performance status, smoking history, pathological type, tumor location and tumor-node-metastasis stage (All P > 0.05). The overall response rate to platinum-based chemotherapy was 57.1% (12/21) in normal SF expression levels group, which was significantly higher than that was 28% (7/25) in high SF expression levels group (χ² = 3.998,P = 0.046). CONCLUSIONS: SF may be a valuable blood marker for predicting the tumor progression and the efficacy of platinum-based therapies for advanced NSCLC patients.

Clinical significance of serum ferritin in elderly patients with primary lung carcinoma.

This study determined the levels of serum ferritin (SF) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in elderly patients with advanced primary lung cancer (PLC), and aimed to investigate the correlation between the SF level and clinical characteristics and compare the positive rates of SF and CEA levels in PLC patients and those in normal subjects. The SF and CEA levels of 69 elderly cases of advanced PLC and 63 elderly controls were determined by electrochemiluminescence method. The correlation between each independent clinicopathological characteristic and levels of SF and CEA was calculated. The positive rates of SF and CEA levels in PLC patients and those in normal subjects were compared. The results revealed that the level of SF in controls was significantly lower than those in patients with advanced LC (145.04 ± 141.77 vs. 293.57 ± 274.95 ng/ml, t = -3.845, P = 0.000). There was a statistically significant difference between SF level and gender, smoking, and regional lymph node metastasis, respectively (P < 0.05). The positive rate of SF combining with CEA was significantly higher than those of SF and CEA alone in patients with advanced PLC. High serum level of SF is helpful for diagnosing PLC in elderly patients and indicates poor prognosis.

Serum B7-H4 expression is a significant prognostic indicator for patients with gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: B7-H4 is a novel B7 ligand that plays an important role in the T cell-mediated immune response as a negative regulator. Previous studies have suggested the aberrant expression of membrane B7-H4 in tumor cells. The aim of this study is to determine the expression levels of preoperative soluble B7-H4 (sB7-H4) in circulation and to investigate the correlations between sB7-H4 levels and clinicopathological parameters as well as the survival rate of patients with gastric cancer. METHODS: Blood specimens from 132 patients with gastric cancer and 63 healthy volunteers were analyzed by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Median concentrations of sB7-H4 in patients with gastric cancer were significantly higher than those in healthy volunteers (16.85 versus 10.46 ng/mL; P = 0.008). Median levels of sB7-H4 were significantly correlated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, the depth of tumor invasion and tumor-node-metastasis classification (P = 0.002, P = 0.001, P = 0.041 and P <0.001, respectively), but not with sex, age, tumor location or histological subtype (all P >0.05). Additionally, the overall survival rate was significantly lower in patients with high sB7-H4 levels when compared with low sB7-H4 levels (50.0% versus 77.3%, χ2 = 10.78, P = 0.001). Moreover, multivariate analysis demonstrated that the risk of death was significantly higher in patients with high sB7-H4 levels than in those with low sB7-H4 levels (P = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS: sB7-H4 is a valuable blood marker for predicting the progression and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.

CD40 mutant expression and its clinical significance to prognosis in gastric cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to detect CD40 mutant expression and evaluate its clinical significance in gastric cancer. METHODS: CD40 mutant expression in 78 cases of gastric cancer tissues, 10 cases of normal gastric tissues, and 10 cases of gastric adenoma tissues by immunohistochemical test. Survival analyses were also performed. RESULTS: The positive CD40 mutant rate in gastric cancer was 55.1% (43/78). No positive CD40 mutant staining was observed in the normal gastric tissue or the gastric adenoma. CD40 mutants expression was significantly correlated with invasive depth, lymph metastasis, and TNM stage (P <0.05). Cases with negative CD40 mutant expression had a significantly longer median survival time than those with positive CD40 mutant expression (40 vs. 14 months, P <0.05). A lower death risk in negative CD40 mutant cases was observed comparing with positive CD40 mutant cases. CONCLUSIONS: Positive CD40 mutant expression suggests a poorer prognosis of gastric cancer cases.

Lemur tyrosine kinase-3 is a significant prognostic marker for patients with colorectal cancer.

Lemur tyrosine kinase-3 (LMTK3) belongs to the family of serine-threonine-tyrosine kinases and the aberrant expression of LMTK3 was observed in several human malignancies. However, the association of LMTK3 with clinical outcomes in colorectal cancer patients is unclear. Thus, this present study was to evaluate the association of LMTK3 expression level with clinicopathologic factors and prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). The expression level of LMTK3 in 69 archival paraffin-embedded colorectal tumor tissue specimens was examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). As a result, we found that the LMTK3 expression level was significantly elevated in CRC tissues as compared with Crohn's disease or colorectal polyp tissues (P<0.0001, P<0.0001, respectively). Positive LMTK3 signals in the colorectal cancer cells were observed in about 89.9% (62 of 69) CRC tissue specimens. Additionally, LMTK3 expression was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification (P=0.003, and P=0.008, respectively), but not with sex, age, tumor location, histological differentiation, tumor size, or depth of tumor invasion (all P>0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that the overall survival rate was significantly higher in the patients with low expression of LMTK3 when compared with those patients with high LMTK3 (P=0.010). Moreover, multivariate analysis revealed that LMTK3 expression was an independent prognostic factor for CRC patients (P=0.047). These results suggest that LMTK3 protein could serve as a prognostic marker for CRC patients.

Serum lemur tyrosine kinase 3 expression in colorectal cancer patients predicts cancer progression and prognosis.

Lemur tyrosine kinase-3 (LMTK3) is a member of the families of serine-threonine-tyrosine kinases, which has been suggested to be a possible target and marker of breast cancer. However, its definitive physiopathological function in colorectal cancer (CRC) is poorly understood at present. The aim of this study was to determine the expression levels of preoperative-soluble LMTK3 (sLMTK3) in patients' blood with CRC and to subsequently evaluate whether or not its level in serum can be used to predict cancer progression and prognosis. The expression levels of sLMTK3 were measured by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in blood specimens from 60 patients with CRC and 53 healthy volunteers. As a result, we found that the mean concentration of sKMTK3 in CRC patients was significantly higher than that in healthy volunteers (P = 0.012). The expression levels of sLMTK3 were significantly correlated with histological subtype, depth of tumor invasion, and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification (P = 0.038, 0.021, and 0.049, respectively), but not with sex, age, tumor location, tumor size, or lymph node metastasis. Additionally, Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that patients with high levels of sLMTK3 had a poorer overall survival rate when compared with those of patients with low levels of sLMTK3 (P = 0.041). Moreover, multivariate analysis demonstrated that sLMTK3 expression and TNM stage were independent prognostic factors for CRC patients (P = 0.047 and 0.008, respectively). These results suggest that serum LMTK3 could be a valuable biomarker for predicting the progression and prognosis of patients with CRC.