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Preoperative serum TMAO level is a new prognostic marker for colorectal cancer
Xiaomei Liu1, Heng Liu2, Caijun Yuan1
1Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou 121001, P.R. China.
Aim:
This study is aimed to determine whether trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is a predictor of prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer.
Methods:
Pretreatment TMAO serum levels were determined in 108 patients with colorectal cancer and 30 healthy controls.
Results:
Median serum TMAO level was significantly higher in colorectal cancer patients than in healthy controls (p < 0.01). No correlation was observed between the disease-free survival and the type of chemotherapy regimen used, tumor location or lymphovascular invasion. Patients with high serum TMAO level had significantly shorter disease-free survival than patients with low serum TMAO level. Multivariate analysis showed that serum TMAO level and distant metastases were independent prognostic factors.
Conclusion:
Pretreatment serum TMAO level is identified as a new independent prognostic biomarker in patients with colorectal cancer.
