Effect of CXCR4 and CD133 Co-expression on the Prognosis of Patients with Stage II~III Colon Cancer

Background: To explore the relationship between CXCR4, CD133 co-expression and clinicopathological features as well as prognosis of patients with phase II~III colon cancer. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine paraffin-embedded samples of tumor tissue and epithelial tissue adjacent to cancer were collected from patients with colon cancer undergoing radical surgery in Baotou Cancer Hospital from January, 2010 to June, 2011. CXCR4 and CD133 expression was detected using immunohistochemistry and its relationship with clinicopathological features and the 3-year survival rate was analyzed. Results: In the tumor tissue and colonic epithelial tissue adjacent to cancer, the positive expression rates of CXCR4 were respectively 61.2% (30/49) and 8.16% (4/49), while those of CD133 being 36.7% (18/49) and 6.12% (3/49). CXCR4 and CD133 expression in tumor tissue was not related to patient age, gender, primary focal sites, tumor size, TNM staging, histological type, tumor infiltration depth and presence or absence of lymphatic metastasis, but CXCR4 and CD133 co-expression was associated with TNM staging and lymphatic metastasis. The 3-year survival rate of patients with CXCR4 and CD133 co-expression was 27.3% (3/11), and that of the remainderwas 76.3% (29/38), the difference being significant ($X^2=7.0206$, p=0.0081). Conclusions: CXCR4 and CD133 co-expression may be a risk factor for poor prognosis of patients with stage II~III colon cancer.