Correlation between the expressions of metastasis-associated factor-1 in colon cancer and vacuolar ATP synthase

Clinical prognosis often worsens due to high recurrence rates following radical surgery for colon cancer. The examination of high-risk recurrence factors post-surgery provides critical insights for disease evaluation and treatment planning.

To explore the relationship between metastasis-associated factor-1 in colon cancer (MACC1) and vacuolar ATP synthase (V-ATPase) expression in colon cancer tissues, and recurrence rate in patients undergoing radical colon cancer surgery.

We selected 104 patients treated with radical colon cancer surgery at our hospital from January 2018 to June 2021. Immunohistochemical staining was utilized to assess the expression levels of MACC1 and V-ATPase in these patients.

The rates of MACC1 and V-ATPase positivity were 64.42% and 67.31%, respectively, in colon cancer tissues, which were significantly higher than in paracancerous tissues (P < 0.05). Among patients with TNM stage III, medium to low differentiation, and lymph node metastasis, the positive rates of MACC1 and V-ATPase were significantly elevated in comparison to patients with TNM stage I-II, high differentiation, and no lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). The rate of MACC1 positivity was 76.67% in patients with tumor diameters > 5 cm, notably higher than in patients with tumor diameters ≤ 5 cm (P < 0.05). We observed a positive correlation between MACC1 and V-ATPase expression (r_s = 0.797, P < 0.05). The positive rates of MACC1 and V-ATPase were significantly higher in patients with recurrence compared to those without (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, MACC1 expression, and V-ATPase expression as risk factors for postoperative colon cancer recurrence (OR = 6.322, 3.435, 2.683, and 2.421; P < 0.05).

The upregulated expression of MACC1 and V-ATPase in colon cancer patients appears to correlate with clinicopathological features and post-radical surgery recurrence.