Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cancer cells released from the primary tumor into the bloodstream, and contain cancer stem cells that influence tumor survival, recurrence, and metastasis. Here, we investigated CD44v9 expression in CTCs and impact of preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels on colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis. We analyzed the expression of CD44v9 mRNA in CTCs using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and preoperative CEA levels in blood samples obtained from 300 patients with CRC. Subsequently, we evaluated the association of CD44v9 expression and CEA levels with clinicopathological factors. CD44v9 mRNA was expressed in 31.3% of the patients, and was significantly associated with liver metastasis. Patients with positive CD44v9 expression had a lower 5-year survival rate (62.3%) than those with negative CD44v9 expression (82.8%,p< 0.001). Cox regression analysis identified CD44v9 expression and high CEA levels (≥5 ng/mL) as poor prognostic factors, while negative CD44v9 expression and low CEA levels (<5 ng/mL) were associated with favorable prognosis (hazard ratio = 0.285,p= 0.006). These results suggest that a combination of CD44v9 mRNA expression in CTCs and serum CEA levels could serve as a valuable prognostic marker for CRC, potentially enhancing the accuracy of prognosis predictions.
循环肿瘤细胞（CTCs）是从原发肿瘤释放进入血液的癌细胞，其中包含影响肿瘤生存、复发和转移的癌症干细胞。本研究探讨了CTCs中CD44v9的表达情况以及术前癌胚抗原（CEA）水平对结直肠癌（CRC）预后的影响。我们采用逆转录聚合酶链反应技术检测了300例CRC患者血液样本中CTCs的CD44v9 mRNA表达水平，并分析了术前CEA水平。随后评估了CD44v9表达与CEA水平与临床病理因素的相关性。结果显示31.3%的患者表达CD44v9 mRNA，且该表达与肝转移显著相关。CD44v9阳性表达患者的5年生存率（62.3%）显著低于阴性表达患者（82.8%，p<0.001）。Cox回归分析表明CD44v9表达与高CEA水平（≥5 ng/mL）是预后不良因素，而CD44v9阴性表达与低CEA水平（<5 ng/mL）则提示良好预后（风险比=0.285，p=0.006）。这些结果表明，联合检测CTCs中CD44v9 mRNA表达与血清CEA水平可作为结直肠癌有价值的预后标志物，有望提高预后预测的准确性。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家