Exploring the correlation between Tom1L1 and the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally progressive mid-low rectal cancer

Abstract

Abstract Objective To investigate the specificity of Target of Myb1-Like1 (Tom1L1) expression in colorectal adenocarcinoma tissues and analyze the predictive value of Tom1L1 in the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with rectal adenocarcinoma. Methods The cancerous tissues and paracancerous normal tissues of 102 patients diagnosed with colorectal adenocarcinoma without treatment were selected; quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), Western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were adopted to validate the expression level of Tom1L1 in the two groups. Furthermore, 34 patients with locally progressive mid-low rectal adenocarcinoma, who were treated with neoadjuvant Xelox chemotherapy prior to the operation, IHC was adopted to detect the expression of Tom1L1 protein in patients before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and to analyze the relationship between the expression level of Tom1L1 and the sensitivity of neoadjuvant therapy. Results The results of qPCR, Western blot and IHC showed that the expression of Tom1L1 in colorectal adenocarcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in paracancerous normal tissues, with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.01); Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was significantly more effective in patients with low expression of Tom1L1 protein than in those with high expression of Tom1L1 protein, with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). Conclusions Tom1L1 is highly expressed in colorectal adenocarcinoma tissues; neoadjuvant Xelox chemotherapy can have an impact on Tom1L1 expression in progressive rectal cancer; patients with locally progressive mid-low rectal adenocarcinoma who have low Tom1L1 expression are more sensitive to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Keywords

• Target of Myb1-Like1
• Neoadjuvant chemotherapy
• Mid-low rectal adenocarcinoma
• Biomarker