The Prognostic Value of Combined LIN28B and IGF-1R in Colorectal Cancer.

Objective: LIN28B and insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) play important roles in the growth and metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC). The relationship between LIN28B and IGF-1R and their co-expression role in CRC is unknown. This study aims to assess whether the combined detection of LIN28B and IGF-1R is a better predictor of prognosis in CRC than either marker alone.

Methods: We used immunohistochemistry to detect LIN28B and IGF-1R protein. The correlation between LIN28B and IGF-1R expression in CRC was determined by the Spearman correlation analysis. The association between LIN28B/IGF-1R expression and clinicopathological features was analyzed, and overall survivals were also performed.

Results: The expression of LIN28B and IGF-1R in CRC tissues were significantly higher than that in non-cancerous tissues (P<0.001 and P<0.001, respectively). LIN28B over-expression positively correlated with IGF-1R over-expression (r=0.283, P=0.007). The increased expression of LIN28B and IGF-1R were both significantly correlated with TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis (all P<0.05). IGF-1R, not LIN28B, was significantly associated with vascular invasion (P=0.007). Overall survival appears to be lower in patients with high LIN28B expression or/and high IGF-1R expression than those with low LIN28B expression or/and low IGF-1R expression. In addition, the predictive sensitivity of LIN28B combined with IGF-1R was stronger than that of either one alone.

Conclusions: The combined over-expression of LIN28B and IGF-1R in patients with colorectal cancer may provide a more powerful predictor for CRC prognosis.