Clinical significance of growth differentiation factor 11 in colorectal cancer

• Published in: International journal of oncology Vol. 31; no. 5; pp. 1097 - 1101
• Main Authors: YOKOE, Takeshi, OHMACHI, Takahiro, INOUE, Hiroshi, MIMORII, Koshi, TANAKAI, Fumiaki, KUSUNOKI, Masato, MORI, Masaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Athens Editorial Academy of the International Journal of Oncology 01.11.2007
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Bone Morphogenetic Proteins - analysis; Bone Morphogenetic Proteins - genetics; Colorectal Neoplasms - metabolism; Colorectal Neoplasms - mortality; Colorectal Neoplasms - pathology; Female; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; Growth Differentiation Factors; Humans; Lymphatic Metastasis; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Prognosis; RNA, Messenger - analysis; Stomach. Duodenum. Small intestine. Colon. Rectum. Anus; Survival Rate; Tumors; Rectal disease; Prognosis; Colorectal cancer; Biological marker; Malignant lymphadenopathy; Malignant hemopathy; Malignant tumor; Cell differentiation; biomarker; Colonic disease; Lymph node metastasis; growth differentiation factor 11; Cancerology; Digestive diseases; Intestinal disease; Growth factor
• ISSN: 1019-6439; 1791-2423
• DOI: 10.3892/ijo.31.5.1097

Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11), a member of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) subfamily, plays a role in regulation of development and differentiation. Although some members of BMP subfamily have been reported to correlate with cancer, the significance of GDF11 has not been studied in a clinical oncology setting. The current study explored the clinicopathological significance of GDF11 expression in colorectal cancer. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR in colorectal cancer specimens obtained from 130 patients showed that GDF11 mRNA expression in cancer tissue was significantly higher than in normal tissue (p=0.001). Tumors were classified as high GDF11 expression (n=65) or low GDF11 expression (n=65). Patients whose tumors had high GDF11 expression showed a high frequency of lymph node metastasis (p=0.049) and had more cancer-related deaths (p=0.040). Furthermore, the patients with high GDF11 expression had significantly poorer overall survival than those with low expression (p=0.0334). Although multivariate analysis showed that GDF11 was not an independent prognostic factor, these findings suggest that GDF11 may be a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in patients with colorectal cancer.