Cancer-associated stroma reveals prognostic biomarkers and novel insights into the tumour microenvironment of colorectal cancer and colorectal liver metastases.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Cancer-associated stroma (CAS) is emerging as a key determinant of metastasis in colorectal cancer (CRC); however, little is known about CAS in colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). This study aimed to validate the prognostic significance of stromal protein biomarkers in primary CRC and CRLM. Secondly, this study aimed to describe the transcriptome of the CAS of CRLM and identify novel targetable pathways of metastasis.

Methods

A case-control study design from a prospectively maintained database was adopted. The prognostic value of epithelial and stromal CALD1, IGFBP7, POSTN, FAP, TGF-β and pSMAD2 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in multivariate models. Pathway enrichment and sparse partial least square-discriminant analysis (sPLS-DA) w

SUBMITTER: Brown KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8729056 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature