Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 11 pp 10337—10358
Altered expression of fibroblast activation protein-α (FAP) in colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence and in lymph node and liver metastases
- 1 Department of Anatomic Pathology, Cruces University Hospital, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Barakaldo, Spain
- 2 BioCruces Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain
- 3 Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
- 4 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
- 5 Department of Oncology, University Hospital Puerta del Mar, Cádiz, Spain
- 6 Department of Anatomic Pathology, Basurto University Hospital, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain
- 7 Department of Surgery, Basurto University Hospital, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain
- 8 Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
Received: January 30, 2020 Accepted: April 20, 2020 Published: May 19, 2020
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.103261How to Cite
Copyright © 2020 Solano-Iturri et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major health problem in elderly people because of its high incidence and high mortality rate. Despite early screening programs, more than half of CRC patients are diagnosed at advanced stages. Fibroblast activation protein-α (FAP) expression in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) has been associated with a higher risk of metastases and poor survival. Here, we have analyzed the immunohistochemical expression of FAP in 41 adenoma-carcinoma sequences. In addition, FAP expression was analyzed individually and in combination with β-catenin (BCAT), CD44 and Cyclin-D1 expression in primary tumors and in their corresponding lymph node and liver metastases (n=294). Finally, soluble FAP (sFAP) levels in plasma from CRC patients (n=127) were also analyzed by ELISA. FAP was expressed only in CRC tissue and its expression level was found to be higher in tumors exhibiting deeper local invasion and poorer cancer cell differentiation. FAP and concomitant nuclear BCAT expression in cancer cells at the infiltrating front of primary tumors and in lymph node metastases was independently associated with 5- and 10-year cancer specific and disease-free survival. Moreover, lower sFAP levels correlated with poorer survival. These findings support the potential importance of FAP as a biomarker of CRC development and progression.