Expression of pattern recognition receptor genes and mortality in patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and the receptor for advanced glycation end products (AGER) are pattern recognition receptors that regulate intestinal inflammatory homeostasis. However, their relevance in colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis is unclear. We investigated expression of , , and interacting proteins in association with CRC mortality in a retrospective cohort study of 65 males diagnosed with primary resectable CRC between 2002 and 2009. Multiplex quantitative nuclease protection assay was used to quantify the expression of 19 genes in archived tissues of tumor and paired adjacent normal mucosa. We evaluated the association between log2 (tumor/normal) expression ratios for single and combined genes and all-cause mortality using multivariable Cox regression analysis. The false discovery rate adjusted -value less than 0.10 indicated statistical significance for single gene. Five-year survival time was calculated from diagnosis of CRC to death, lost to follow-up, or December 31, 2014. Compared to paired normal mucosa, expression levels of , , , and were lower ( = 0.0002); while and were higher ( = 0.0002) in tumor epithelia. Higher tumor expression of (HR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.49-0.94), (HR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.52-0.94), (HR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.30-0.93), and (HR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.52-0.98) was associated with higher mortality risk. There was a synergistic effect on lower five-year survival in lower co-expressers of and ( < 0.0001). Our findings suggest that a TLRs/MyD88-mediated inflammatory response may play a role in CRC prognosis. The role of pattern recognition receptor-mediated immunity in CRC mortality warrants further research.