Expression of Transketolase like gene 1 (TKTL1) predicts disease-free survival in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy
2011

TKTL1 Expression and Survival in Rectal Cancer

Sample size: 33 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Juliana Schwaab, Karoline Horisberger, Philipp Ströbel, Beatrice Bohn, Deniz Gencer, Georg Kähler, Peter Kienle, Stefan Post, Frederik Wenz, Wolf-Karsten Hofmann, Ralf-Dieter Hofheinz, Philipp Erben

Primary Institution: Universitätsmedizin Mannheim

Hypothesis

Does the expression of TKTL1 predict disease-free survival in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy?

Conclusion

High TKTL1 expression correlates with poor prognosis in terms of 3-year disease-free survival in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer treated with intensified neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

Supporting Evidence

  • Patients with high TKTL1 expression had a 39% disease-free survival rate compared to 87% for those with low expression.
  • High TKTL1 expression was significantly correlated with the development of metastases.
  • VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 expression levels were significantly higher in tumor tissue compared to normal tissue.

Takeaway

This study found that patients with high levels of a specific gene called TKTL1 had a lower chance of being cancer-free after treatment for rectal cancer.

Methodology

Patients' tumor and normal tissue were analyzed using quantitative PCR to measure gene expression levels.

Limitations

The study had a relatively small sample size, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.

Participant Demographics

33 patients (23 male, 10 female; median age 61 years)

Statistical Information

P-Value

0.01

Confidence Interval

0.05-0.6

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1471-2407-11-363

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