Centromere Protein F And Survivin Are Associated With High Risk And A Poor Prognosis In Coloreetal Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

Aims Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are considered as tumors originating from interstitial cells of Cajal or their precursors. The GISTs can arise anywhere along gastrointestinal tract but mainly in stomach and small intestine. Only about ten percent of primary GISTs are located in colon or rectum. So, studies on colorectal GISTs are rare. However, colorectal GISTs are characterized by relative poor prognosis. So far, few reports have been performed to probe mechanisms behind its malignant behavior and to identify new therapeutic strategies for its treatment. We focused on CENP-F and Survivin, which are closely associated with malignant behaviors in a variety of human cancers. We conducted this study to explore potential targets for the treatment of malignant colorectal GISTs.Methods In current study, we collected clinicopathlogical data of46colorectal GSITs. The corresponding paraffin imbedded tumor specimens were processed by IHC to detect the protein levels of CENP-F and Survivin in colorectal GISTs. The relationships between expressions of the two proteins and clinicopathological parameters were analyzed. Associated Survival analysis was available based on follow-up information.Results The primary sites of46enrolled colorectal GISTs consist of transverse colon (1case), descending colon (3cases), sigmoid colon (2cases) and rectum (40cases). The median age of occurrence is54-year old. No difference of incidence was shown between female and male. The common symptoms are hemafecia, abdominal pain and constipation, etc. That is nonspecific and difficult to distinguish with other tumors located in colon and rectum. The overall positive ratio of CENP-F and Surivin are30.4%and23.9%, respectively. Both protein levels of them are positively associated with risk grades based on NIH criteria (P<0.05). The patients with positive expression of CENP-F or Survivin usually have a poor prognosis with shorter disease-free survival and recurrence (P<0.05). Moreover, CENP-F and Survivin could be independent prognostic factors in multivariate analysis.Conclusions We demonstrated for the first time that CENP-F and survivin expressions were significantly associated with high risk and a poor prognosis in colorectal GISTs. The interfering of CENP-F and/or survivin expressions might be potential therapeutic strategies for malignant colorectal GISTs.