ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Chirurgia 2023 December;36(6):319-23

DOI: 10.23736/S0394-9508.23.05537-7

Copyright © 2023 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

The correlation between tenascin C levels and clinical stage in colorectal cancer patients

Ferdinandes FERDINANDES ¹, Ronald E. LUSIKOOY ¹ ✉, Julianus A. UWURATUW ¹, Joko HENDARTO ², Ibrahim LABEDA ¹, Warsinggih WARSINGGIH ¹, Mappincara MAPPINCARA ¹, Samuel SAMPETODING ¹, Muhammad I. DANI ¹, Muhammad I. KUSUMA ¹, Erwin SYARIFUDDIN ¹, Muhammad FARUK ³

¹ Division of Digestive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia; ² Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia; ³ Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia

BACKGROUND: Many patients suffering from colorectal cancer (CRC) are asymptomatic during the early development of the disease (since the disease has a silent progression); however, benign polyps and inflammation of the colon can cause chronic pain and hematochezia and affect defecation patterns. These symptoms can make it difficult to correctly diagnose the problem as CRC. Tenascin C (TNC) is one of the potential serum biomarkers for CRC cases. In vitro studies have shown that TNC expression can influence cell behavior in several ways. The aim of this study was to assess whether TNC is associated with the clinical stage in CRC patients.
METHODS: Seventy-eight CRC patients at Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital were studied from September 2020 to April 2021. TNC plasma was measured from peripheral blood samples. The data collected were age, sex, stage, degree of differentiation, tumor location, CEA levels, and TNC levels. The data were processed using ANOVA and t independent tests; results were considered significant if P≤0.05.
RESULTS: The study was conducted on 78 patients with CRC: 42 were males (53.8%) and 36 females (46.2%), with a ratio of 1.5:1. Most patients (a total of 46) were aged above 50 years (58.9%). There was a significant relationship between TNC levels and the degree of invasion (T), with a P value = 0.015. A significant relationship was also present between TNC levels and lymph node metastases (N), with a P value = 0.024, and between TNC levels and metastasis in patients with CRC (P value = 0.004). The relationship between TNC levels and TNM stage in CRC patients turned out to be significant (P value = 0.009).
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated a relationship between TNC levels and the degree of tumor invasion, lymph node metastases, distant metastases, and TNM stage in CRC patients.

KEY WORDS: Colorectal neoplasms; Tenascin; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Neoplasm metastasis