Luo Yang, Shen Yicheng, Ju Zhong, Zhang Zhi
Department of General Surgery, Suzhou Ninth People's Hospital, Suzhou, China.
Department of Dermatology, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou, China.
Transl Cancer Res. 2020 Oct;9(10):6471-6478. doi: 10.21037/tcr-20-2640.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common gastrointestinal malignant tumor that occurs in the colon site and accounts for 9% of the total malignant tumors. Among malignant tumors, its morbidity and mortality respectively rank third and fourth, seriously threatening human health and causing a heavy economic burden on society. ZIP7 (SLC39A7), a kind of zinc transporter, plays a crucial role in the self-renewal of intestinal epithelial cells; however, its role in CRC has not been extensively examined. Therefore, our study aimed to analyze the biological function and expression of this zinc transporter in CRC, along with its correlation with disease activity.
In this study, 118 cases of colorectal carcinoma tissues, 30 normal tissue samples from adjacent cancer tissues, and 30 normal intestinal mucosa tissue samples from non-intestinal cancer patients were collected in our hospital between February 2014 and February 2015. The expressions of ZIP7 were examined immunohistochemically, and the relationship between ZIP7 expression and the clinical pathological features of CRC were analyzed. After appropriate surgical treatment, the patients accepted a 5-year follow-up for evaluation of their recurrence situation and 5-year survival rate.
Immunohistochemically, out of 80 CRC tissue samples, 67.8% were found to be positive for ZIP7, 55% (44 cases) were strong positives, and 45% (36 cases) were weak positives. There was a striking coherence between the expression of ZIP7, the depth of lymph node metastasis, CRC invasion, and CRC Dukes stage (P<0.05). Subsequent studies indicated that the mortality rate was positively correlated with the staining intensity of ZIP7 (P<0.05), and the Cox proportional hazards model confirmed that ZIP7 is an independent element of prognostic in patients with CRC (RR =3.896; 95% CI: 1.526-9.951; P=0.004).
The high expression of ZIP 7 in epithelial cells is related to the clinical stage and prognosis of CRC and can be utilized as a biomarker to predict the prognosis of CRC patients.
结直肠癌（CRC）是一种常见的胃肠道恶性肿瘤，发生于结肠部位，占全部恶性肿瘤的9%。在恶性肿瘤中，其发病率和死亡率分别位居第三和第四，严重威胁人类健康，并给社会带来沉重的经济负担。ZIP7（SLC39A7）是一种锌转运蛋白，在肠道上皮细胞的自我更新中起关键作用；然而，其在结直肠癌中的作用尚未得到广泛研究。因此，我们的研究旨在分析这种锌转运蛋白在结直肠癌中的生物学功能和表达情况，以及其与疾病活动的相关性。
本研究收集了2014年2月至2015年2月期间我院的118例结直肠癌组织、30例来自癌旁组织的正常组织样本以及30例非结直肠癌患者的正常肠黏膜组织样本。采用免疫组织化学方法检测ZIP7的表达情况，并分析ZIP7表达与结直肠癌临床病理特征之间的关系。经过适当的手术治疗后，对患者进行5年随访，以评估其复发情况和5年生存率。
免疫组织化学检测显示，在80例结直肠癌组织样本中，67.8%的样本ZIP7呈阳性，55%（44例）为强阳性，45%（36例）为弱阳性。ZIP7的表达与淋巴结转移深度、结直肠癌侵袭及结直肠癌Dukes分期之间存在显著相关性（P<0.05）。后续研究表明，死亡率与ZIP7的染色强度呈正相关（P<0.05），Cox比例风险模型证实ZIP7是结直肠癌患者预后的独立因素（RR =3.896；95%CI：1.526 - 9.951；P=0.004）。
ZIP7在上皮细胞中的高表达与结直肠癌的临床分期和预后相关，可作为预测结直肠癌患者预后的生物标志物。
