Lambis-Anaya Lina, Fernández-Ruiz Mashiel, Liscano Yamil, Suarez-Causado Amileth
Grupo Prometeus & Biomedicina Aplicada a las Ciencias Clínicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Cartagena, Cartagena 130014, Colombia.
Grupo de Investigación en Salud Integral (GISI), Departamento Facultad de Salud, Universidad Santiago de Cali, Cali 760035, Colombia.
Cancers (Basel). 2023 Jul 23;15(14):3740. doi: 10.3390/cancers15143740.
Rectal cancer (RC) is one of the most common malignant neoplasms, and cancer stem cells (CSCs) of the intestinal tract have been implicated in its origin. The oncofetal protein OCT4 has been linked to neoplastic processes, but its role and clinical significance in RC are unknown. This study investigates the expression of the stem cell marker OCT4 related to clinical-pathological characteristics and its clinical significance in RC patients. The expression level of stem cell marker OCT4 was analyzed in 22 primary rectal tumors by western blot. The association between OCT4 protein expression and the clinical-pathological features of tumors was evaluated by χ test and Fisher's exact test. We demonstrated that the expression of the stem cell marker OCT4 was observed in tumor tissue but not adjacent non-tumor tissue. High expression of the stem cell marker OCT4 was significantly associated with histological differentiation grade ( = 0.039), tumor invasion level ( = 0.004), lymph node involvement ( = 0.044), tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage ( = 0.002), and clinical stage ( = 0.021). These findings suggest that high OCT4 expression is associated with a more aggressive RC phenotype, with a greater likelihood of progression and metastasis. These results shed light on the importance of targeting this CSC marker to attenuate RC progression.
直肠癌（RC）是最常见的恶性肿瘤之一，肠道癌干细胞（CSCs）被认为与直肠癌的发生有关。癌胚蛋白OCT4与肿瘤形成过程有关，但其在直肠癌中的作用和临床意义尚不清楚。本研究调查了干细胞标志物OCT4的表达与临床病理特征的关系及其在直肠癌患者中的临床意义。通过蛋白质免疫印迹法分析了22例原发性直肠肿瘤中干细胞标志物OCT4的表达水平。采用χ检验和Fisher精确检验评估OCT4蛋白表达与肿瘤临床病理特征之间的相关性。我们发现，干细胞标志物OCT4在肿瘤组织中表达，而在相邻的非肿瘤组织中不表达。干细胞标志物OCT4的高表达与组织学分化程度（P = 0.039）、肿瘤浸润水平（P = 0.004）、淋巴结受累情况（P = 0.044）、肿瘤-淋巴结-转移（TNM）分期（P = 0.002）及临床分期（P = 0.021）显著相关。这些发现表明，OCT4高表达与更具侵袭性的直肠癌表型相关，进展和转移的可能性更大。这些结果揭示了靶向这种癌干细胞标志物以减缓直肠癌进展的重要性。
