Abstract:
Objective To evaluate the clinical value of the plasma methylated septin 9 gene (mSEPT9) in monitoring recurrence and metastasis in patients after curative resection of colorectal cancer (CRC).
Methods From February 2013 to January 2015, a total of 214 patients who were diagnosed with CRC and received radical resection were enrolled in Liaocheng People's Hospital. All of the patients were followed up for three years after surgery. Plasma mSEPT9 levels were preoperatively and postoperatively detected using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels were examined using an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay.
Results The positivity rate of plasma mSEPT9 in preoperative CRC patients was 70.1%, and the positivity rates increased with increasing clinical tumor-node-metastasis stage (P=0.027). No associations were found between the positivity rates of plasma mSEPT9 and the age or gender of CRC patients (P > 0.05). After curatively intended surgery for CRC, the positivity rate of plasma mSEPT9 decreased to 8.4% (P < 0.001). In 64 recurrent and metastasis CRC cases, the positivity rate of plasma mSEPT9 was 78.1%, while the serum CEA positivity rate was 40.6% (P < 0.001). Compared with mSEPT9 independently, the positivity rate could be improved for CRC recurrences and metastasis using the combined detection of plasma mSEPT9 and serum CEA (81.3% vs. 78.1%; P=0.756).
Conclusions Plasma mSEPT9 is a sensitive biomarker for monitoring CRC recurrence and metastasis.