Significance of tumor marker SLX in colorectal cancer

We examined serum SLX for its significance as a tumor marker in 109 colorectal cancer patients. There a close correlation with immunohistochemical expression of SLX and serum SLX level. Serum SLX was positive in 16.5% of 109 patients with colorectal cancers. There was no significant correlation between serum SLX level and histologic type or primary tumor status. There were significant correlations between serum SLX positive rates and both lymph node and hematogenous metastasis. In 7 SLX positive cases who underwent curative resection, 4 patients had already recurrence in the liver. Our findings suggest that serum SLX values may be a biologic marker of metastasis.