Correlation Between DCAMKL-1 Protein Expression and K-ras Gene Mutation in Colorectal Cancer

Abstract

Xuefang Wu,1,2 Shuang Li,2 Yingchun Yang,2 Jianjun Hu,2 Tongyin Yang2 1Department of Pathology, The Affiliated People’s Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315100, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pathology, Guizhou Provincial People’s Hospital, Guiyang, 550002, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Tongyin Yang; Shuang Li, Department of Pathology, Guizhou Provincial People’s Hospital, Guiyang, 550002, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: To investigate the correlation between doublecortin and CaM kinase-like-1 (DCAMKL-1) protein expression, K-ras gene mutation, and their impact on patient prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC).Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of DCAMKL-1 protein in 60 cases of colorectal adenoma, 82 cases of CRC (including 65 cases of lymph node metastasis) and paraffin-embedded paracancerous intestinal mucosal tissue. K-ras gene mutations in primary CRC lesions were detected using an amplification-refractory mutation system and fluorescent polymerase chain reaction. The relationship between DCAMKL-1 protein expression and K-ras gene mutations with the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with CRC was analyzed. Univariate Kaplan‒Meier survival analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis were performed using follow-up data.Results: The mutation rate of the K-ras gene in 82 cases of CRC was 48.8% (40/82). The positivity rate for the presence of DCAMKL-1 protein in CRC was 70.7% (58/82), significantly higher than that for colorectal adenomas (53.3%; 32/60) and paracancerous intestinal mucosa (0%; 0/82) (P< 0.05). The positive expression rate for the presence of DCAMKL-1 protein in 65 patients with lymph node metastasis was higher in the primary lesions (69.2%; 45/65) than in the lymph node metastases (52.3%; 34/65) (χ2=12.087, P=0.001). The K-ras gene mutation status was positively correlated with DCAMKL-1 protein expression (r=0.252, P=0.022).Conclusion: In this study, a potential positive correlation between K-ras gene mutation and DCAMKL-1 protein expression was identified in CRC tissues. The assessment of K-ras gene mutation status and DCAMKL-1 protein expression holds promise for augmenting early diagnosis and prognosis evaluation in CRC. This approach may improve the overall prognosis and survival outcomes for CRC patients.Keywords: colorectal cancer, DCAMKL-1 protein, K-ras gene, mutation

Keywords

• colorectal cancer
• dcamkl-1 protein
• k-ras gene
• mutation