Accessing new prognostic significance of preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen in colorectal cancer receiving tumor resection: More than positive and negative

Prediction of Synchronous Serum CEA Expression Status Based on Baseline MRI Features of Primary Rectal Cancer Lesions Pre-treatment: A Retrospective Study

This study aimed to investigate the correlation between baseline MRI features and baseline carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) expression status in rectal cancer patients. A training cohort of 168 rectal cancer patients from Center 1 and an external validation cohort of 75 rectal cancer patients from Center 2 were collected. A nomogram was constructed based on the training cohort and validated using the external validation cohort to predict high baseline CEA expression in rectal cancer patients. The nomogram's discriminative ability and clinical utility were tested using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA). The baseline CEA high-expression group had significantly higher MRI-detected metastatic lymph node (mLN), MRI-detected extramural vascular invasion (mEMVI), infiltrating tumor border configuration (iTBC), peritoneal invasion, annular infiltration, maximum extramural depth (MED), and tumor length than the normal CEA group (P < 0.05). Among them, MED [odds ratio (OR):1.19 (1.03-1.38), P = 0.016] and annular infiltration [OR:2.36 (1.06-5.25), P = 0.036] were independently predicting factors for high baseline CEA expression. The trained and validated model for predicting high baseline CEA expression in the training and external validation cohorts had the area under the curves (AUC) of 0.787 (95% CI 0.716-0.859) and 0.799 (95% CI 0.698-0.899), respectively. The calibration curves of both cohorts demonstrated good agreement between predicted and observed outcomes. Decision curve analysis indicated the clinical value of the nomogram. We developed a visual nomogram to predict high baseline CEA expression for patients with rectal cancer, enabling clinicians to conduct a personalized risk assessment and therapy.

Preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen to body mass index ratio contributes to prognosis prediction in colorectal cancer

Both carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level and body mass index (BMI) are traditional prognostic markers in colorectal cancer (CRC); however, to the best of our knowledge, the value of the CEA to BMI ratio (CBR) has never been addressed. In the present study, 191 patients with CRC treated using radical resection were retrospectively included, and the significance of the CBR in predicting disease-free survival (DFS) or overall survival (OS) rates was calculated. The prognostic efficacy of the CBR in predicting OS was compared with individual CEA and BMI values. The survival differences of the subgroups were calculated by Kaplan-Meier analysis, and corresponding risk factors were then estimated by a Cox proportional hazards model. As a result, 29.84% (57/191) of the patients were assigned to the high CBR group (cut-off, ≥0.28); the CBR had a sensitivity of 56.50 and 68.90%, and a specificity of 80.60 and 80.10% for DFS and OS, respectively. Patients with a high CBR more commonly underwent laparotomy and exhibited advanced T stages, the presence of tumor deposits and advanced Tumor-Node-Metastasis stages (stage II or III). The CBR was more efficient than the CEA or BMI alone in predicting OS. In addition, patients with a high CBR presented with a significantly worse outcome than patients with a low CBR. Finally, the CBR was an independent risk factor for both DFS and OS. In conclusion, the CBR was a more robust prognostic factor in CRC, and patients with a relatively high CBR exhibited poorer survival.

Prognostic Significance of Preoperative Serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen Varies with Lymph Node Metastasis Status in Colorectal Cancer

Background

Preoperative serum level of carcinoembryonic antigen (pCEA) is generally recognized as a prognostic factor for colorectal cancer (CRC), but the stage-specific role of pCEA in colorectal cancer remains unclear.

Objective

We investigated the prognostic significance of pCEA levels in different tumor stages of nonmetastatic CRC patients.

Methods

Six hundred and fifteen CRC patients at stage I–III were retrospectively analyzed. All of them received curative tumor resection. The X-tile program was used to generate stage-specific cutoff values of pCEA for all patients and two subpopulations (lymph node-positive or -negative). The prognostic significance of pCEA was assessed using Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. A nomogram model that combined pCEA score and clinical feature indexes was established and evaluated.

Results

Two cutoff values were identified in the study population. At a cutoff value of 4.9 ng/mL, a significantly higher 5-year overall survival (OS) rate (82.16%) was observed in the pCEA-low group (<4.9 ng/mL) compared with 65.52% in the pCEA-high group (≥4.9 ng/mL). Furthermore, at the second cutoff value of 27.2 ng/mL, 5-year OS was found to be only 40.9%. Stratification analysis revealed that preoperative serum level of pCEA was an independent prognostic factor (OR = 1.991, P < 0.01) in the subpopulation of lymph node metastasis (stage III) patients, and the relative survival rates in the pCEA-low (≤4.9 ng/mL), pCEA-medium (4.9–27.2 ng/mL), and pCEA-high (≥27.2 ng/mL) groups were 73.4%, 60.5%, and 24.8%, respectively (P < 0.05). However, no such effect was observed in the lymph node nonmetastasis (stage I and II) subgroup. The established nomogram showed acceptable predictive power of the 5-year OS rate (C-index: 0.612) in lymph node-positive CRC patients, with an area under the curve value of 0.772, as assessed by ROC curve analysis.

Conclusions

Pretreatment serum CEA levels had different prognostic significance based on the lymph node metastasis status. Among stage III CRC patients, pCEA was an independent prognostic factor. Five-year OS rates could be predicted according to the individual pCEA level at the different cutoff values.

Serum carcinoembryonic antigen pre-operative level in colorectal cancer: revisiting risk stratification

BACKGROUND

Biomarkers may play a role as predictive and prognostic factors in colorectal cancer patients. The aims of the study were to verify the prognostic role of pre-operative serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level in predicting overall survival and risk of recurrence in a cohort of colorectal cancer patients and to evaluate optimal cut-off values.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort analysis was performed on colorectal cancer patients undergoing elective curative surgery between 2004 and 2019 at an Italian Academic Hospital. Main outcomes were overall survival, disease-free survival at 3-years and risk of local, loco-regional and distant recurrence during follow-up. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was plotted using CEA pre-operative values and follow-up data in order to estimate the optimal cut-off values.

RESULTS

A total of 559 patients were considered. The mean CEA value was 12.1 ± 54.1 ng/mL, and the median 29.3 (0-4995) ng/mL. The ROC curve analysis identified 12.5 ng/mL as the best CEA cut-off value to predict the risk of metastatic development after surgery in stage I-III colorectal cancer patients, and 10 ng/mL as the best CEA cut-off value to predict overall survival and disease-free survival in stage III-IV patients. These data suggest a stratification of colorectal cancer patients in three classes of risk: a low risk class (CEA <10 ng/mL), a moderate risk class (CEA 10-12.5 ng/mL) and a high risk class (CEA >12.5 ng/mL).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, pre-operative serum CEA measurements could integrate information to enhance patient risk stratification and tailored therapy.

CEA Decline Predicts Tumor Regression and Prognosis in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer Patients with Elevated Baseline CEA

Purpose: To investigate the value of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) decline in predicting pathological tumor regression and outcome for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients who received neoadjuvant therapy with elevated baseline CEA.

Methods: LARC patients with elevated pre-treatment CEA who received neoadjuvant therapy and radical tumor resection were retrospectively collected. Serum CEA level during treatment were recorded and the predictive value of pre-treatment CEA, post-treatment CEA and CEA ratio (CEA^{post-treatment} /CEA^{pre-treatment}) for tumor regression grade (TRG), overall survival and diseases free survival were estimated by logistic regression or cox proportional hazard regression.

Results: Two hundred and eighty-four LARC patients with elevated pre-treatment CEA were enrolled and the baseline, post-treatment CEA level and CEA ratio were 11.87 (5.02-731.31) ng/ml, 4.23 (0.50-173.80) ng/ml and 0.31(0.01-2.55) respectively. CEA level in 59.2% of the patients declined to normal after neoadjuvant therapy. Multivariate analysis showed that CEA ratio was an independent predictor for TRG (OR=3.463, 95% CI: 1.269-9.446, P=0.015) and tumor downstage (OR=0.393, 95% CI: 0.187-0.829, P=0.014). Patients with normalized post-treatment CEA level had better overall survival (P=0.010) and disease free survival (P=0.003) than those with elevated CEA level. Higher post-treatment CEA was an independent unfavored predictor for overall survival in LARC patients with elevated pre-treatment CEA (OR=1.042, 95% CI: 1.017-1.067, P=0.001).

Conclusion: Post/pre-treatment CEA ratio predicted tumor regression in term of TRG and tumor downstage for LARC patients with elevated pre-treatment CEA and higher post-treatment CEA predicted poor overall survival.

Association of T Stage and Serum CEA Levels in Determining Survival of Rectal Cancer

Purpose: To investigate the association of T stage and serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels in determining oncologic outcomes of rectal cancer. Methods: Patients diagnosed with stage I-II rectal cancer patients were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Results: In stage T1N0M0 disease, elevated level of serum CEA (C1) was associated with 227.6% increased risk of mortality compared to normal level of serum CEA (C0; hazard ratio = 3.276, 95% confidence interval = 2.781-3.858, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Stage T1N0M0 rectal cancer, when involved in preoperative serum CEA elevation, may be a surrogate of biologically aggressive disease and correlate with unfavorable oncologic outcomes. Moreover, this subgroup of rectal cancer deserves more clinical attention of oncologists.

Reduced DAXX Expression Is Associated with Reduced CD24 Expression in Colorectal Cancer

The presence of an activating mutation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is found in ~90% of colorectal cancer (CRC) cases. Death domain-associated protein (DAXX), a nuclear protein, interacts with β-catenin in CRC cells. We investigated DAXX expression in 106 matched sample pairs of CRC and adjacent normal tissue by Western blotting. This study evaluated DAXX expression and its clinical implications in CRC. The results revealed that DAXX expression was significantly lower in the patients with the positive serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) screening results compared to the patients with negative CEA screening levels (p < 0.001). It has been reported that CD24 is a Wnt target in CRC cells. Here, we further revealed that DAXX expression was significantly correlated with CD24 expression (rho = 0.360, p < 0.001) in 106 patients. Consistent with this, in the CEA-positive subgroup, of which the carcinomas expressed DAXX at low levels, they were significantly correlated with CD24 expression (rho = 0.461, p < 0.005). Therefore, reduced DAXX expression is associated with reduced CD24 expression in CRC. Notably, in the Hct116 cells, DAXX knockdown using short-hairpin RNA against DAXX (shDAXX) not only caused significant cell proliferation, but also promoted metastasis. The DAXX-knockdown cells also demonstrated significantly decreased CD24 expression, however the intracellular localization of CD24 did not change. Thus, DAXX might be considered as a potential regulator of CD24 or β-catenin expression, which might be correlated with proliferative and metastatic potential of CRC.