Prognostic significance of tumor-infiltrating mast cells in colorectal cancer patients / 中华消化外科杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between tumor-infiltrating mast cell (TIM) and the clinicopathological and prognostic factors of patients with colorectal cancer.MethodsA total of 282 cases of paraffin-embedded colorectal cancer specimens were obtained from the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from January 2002 to December 2005.The density of TIM was determined by immunohistochemical staining.According to the mean TIM density detected [ ( 8.4 + 6.5 )/HPF ],all the patients were divided into low-TIM density group (mean TIM density ＜8.4/HPF) and high-TIM density group (mean TIM density ＞8.4/HPF).The clinicopathological factors and the prognosis of patients between high-TIM density group and low-TIM density group were compared.All data were analyzed using the t test or chi-square test.The survival curve was drawn using the Kaplan-Meier method,and the survival of the patients was analyzed by the Log-rank test.The clinicopathological factors were analyzed retrospectively with the univariate and multivariate COX regression model.ResultsTIM was detected in all the patients with colorectal cancer.Significant differences were observed in the number of patients in N stage and TNM stage between patients in the high-TIM density group and those in the lowTIM density group (x2 =6.025,7.410,P ＜ 0.05 ).All patients were followed up till September 2010,the 5-year overall and tumor-free survival rates of patients were 82.9％ and 63.1％ in the low-TIM density group,79.0％ and 59.3％ in the high-TIM density group,with significant difference between the 2 groups (P ＜ 0.05 ).COX proportional hazard regression model revealed that high density of TIM was associated with short overall survival time and tumor-free survival time of colorectal cancer patients ( RR =2.119,95 ％ CI 1.326- 3.386; RR =2.084,95 ％ CI 1.357-3.199,P ＜0.05).The resuhs of multivariate analysis showed that high density of TIM was the independent factor influencing the overall survival time and tumor-free survival time (RR =1.651,95％ CI 1.009-2.702; RR =1.680,95％ CI 1.074-2.629,P ＜ 0.05 ).ConclusionHigh density of TIM is correlated with the N stage and TNM stage of colorectal cancer,and it is an independent predictor of poor survival for patients with colorectal cancer.