Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 14, 2026
Multiomics Analysis of TMEM200A as a Pan-Cancer Biomarker
Published on: September 15, 2023
Prognostic and predictive value of thymidylate synthase expression in primary colorectal cancer
M Karlberg1, K Ohrling, D Edler
1Department of Oncology and Pathology, CCK R8:03, Karolinska University Hospital, S-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
Aim:
To investigate thymidylate synthase (TS) expression in primary colorectal cancer (CRC) as a prognostic and predictive marker of benefit for adjuvant chemotherapy.
Patients And Methods:
TS expression was immuno0-histochemically (IHC) assessed on tumors from 1,389 patients with stage II and III CRC randomly assigned to either surgery alone or surgery plus 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based adjuvant chemotherapy.
Results:
In the subgroup treated with surgery alone (n=708), TS expression was prognostic using the classification of TS 0-1 versus 2-3 (p=0.045) as well as TS classified as 0-2 versus 3 (p=0.002). A high TS expression was associated with a shorter overall survival. Among patients with TS grade 3 (n=460), the subgroup treated with adjuvant chemotherapy had a significant longer OS (p=0.005).
Conclusion:
In this study TS, immunohistochemically assessed, is a prognostic factor in CRC patients treated with surgery alone. Patients with the highest level of TS expression (grade 3) had an improved clinical outcome following adjuvant 5-FU-based chemotherapy.
