The correlations between serum amphiregulin and other clinicopathological factors in colorectal cancer

Amphiregulin (AREG) is one of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligands and plays the important roles in tumor progression and metastasis. Upregulation of AREG in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues has been shown to correlate with depth of tumor invasion, nerve invasion and liver metastasis. We sought to investigate a correlation of serum AREG in CRC with clinicopathological parameters.

Patients with CRC receiving treatment at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital during August 2013 to March 2014 were enrolled. We collected baseline serum prior to start any therapy and stored till analysis. Serum AREG was measured by ELISA. The correlation between each clinicopathological characteristic and serum AREG was analysed.

There were 120 patients with CRC including 78 patients (65.0%) with stage I-III and 41 patients (34.2%) in stage IV or recurrent disease. In stage IV or recurrent group, the median level of serum AREG was 31.55 pg/mL, which was higher than those of stage I-III group, 15.48 pg/mL, P=0.001. The serum AREG higher than 25 pg/mL (high serum AREG) was significantly correlated with liver and peritoneal metastasis (P<0.001). Additionally, high serum AREG was significantly correlated with more poor differentiated/mucinous histological grade (P=0.014), distant metastasis (P=0.001), lymphovascular invasion (P=0.016) and perineural invasion (P<0.001).

High serum AREG was associated with advanced diseases and poor pathologic factors in CRC. It is potentially a prognostic marker in CRC.