A meta‑analysis of serological thymidine kinase 1 as a marker for colorectal benign and malignant tumor risk assessment

Abstract

The present study investigated whether a concentration of serum thymidine kinase 1 (STK1p) could be used to distinguish between healthy individuals, patients with colorectal benign tumors and individuals with colorectal cancer (CRC). The effectiveness of surgery on patients with CRC was monitored. A total of 20 publications containing patients with CRC (n=1,836), patients with colorectal benign tumors (n=774) and healthy controls (n=1,701) were analysed in the present meta-analysis. The publications were collected from PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP and SinoMed databases from January 1, 2009 until August 31, 2019. Articles were analyzed according to sensitivity (Forest plot) and publication bias (Begg's plot, Egger's linear regression) using fixed or random effect models to calculate the weighted mean difference. Study quality was checked using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale Document Quality Assessment Scale. The meta-analysis followed the PRISMA statement. The results revealed that STK1p significantly distinguished healthy individuals and those with colorectal benign tumors from patients with CRC, and from patients with benign tumors (P<0.000001). STK1p levels also decreased by 40% following surgery (P<0.0001), which corresponded to half-life of ~1 month. The quality of the present study was high and no bias was identified among publication. It was concluded that STK1p was a reliable biomarker for the early detection of benign lesions, which may therefore prevent their future development into colorectal malignancies. STK1p may also be used for the clinical dynamic monitoring of the effectiveness of surgery in patients with CRC. Combining STK1p with colorectal-associated biomarkers, in addition to the determination of tumor stage and grade may therefore be of use.

Clinical Significance and Role of TK1, CEA, CA 19-9 and CA 72-4 levels in Diagnosis of Colorectal Cancers

“…With an AUC score between 0.824-0.826, TK1 looked quite specific and could be projected as an independent marker for CRC diagnosis. Nevertheless, the joint detection of TK1+CEA + CA19-9 + CA72-4 offered a better diagnostic performance in the logistic regression model, which is consistent with some previous findings also (Liang et al, 2016;Ning et al, 2018;Yanfeng et al, 2018, Dang et al, 2020.…”

“…A meta-analysis revealed that serum TK1 significantly distinguished healthy persons and those with benign colorectal tumors from patients with CRC (p<0.000001). It also highlighted that benign tumor patients with serum TK1 values > 2.0 pmol/L had significantly higher chances of developing malignant colorectal tumors (Dang et al, 2020).…”

“…A meta-analysis suggested significantly worse survival among CRC patients with elevated TK1 levels (>0.9 pmol/L) in comparison to those with low TK1 values (<=0.9 pmol/L) and cox regression analysis showcased TK1, clinicopathological stage and lymph node status to be independent factors for prognosis. TK1, as a biomarker, could be effective for early detection of benign colorectal lesions to halt their progress into malignancy (Dang et al, 2020).…”

Thymidine kinase 1 through the ages: a comprehensive review

“…They concluded that the half-life of STK1c is a useful parameter for evaluating surgical response in lung cancer patients and that STK1c may be beneficial for early detection of disease. A separate meta-analysis performed by Dang et al studied whether serum TK1 protein levels (STK1p) measured using the ECL assay could distinguish between healthy patients (n = 1,701), benign colorectal tumors (n = 774), and colorectal cancer (CRC) (n = 1836) [ 125 ]. Twenty studies spanning from 2009 to 2019 were collected and evaluated.…”

Serum Thymidine Kinase 1 Protein Concentration for Predicting Early Progression and Monitoring the Response to TACE in Hepatocellular Carcinomas: a Network meta-analysis

“…Clinical evidence has supported that STK1p correlates significantly to tumor growth rates, clinical stages and evaluated for monitoring of tumor therapies and the prognosis of survival and relapse of various malignant tumors individually. Three network meta-analyses (NMAs) of lung (n = 2107) [ 17 ], colorectal (n = 1836) [ 18 ] and breast cancers (n = 1813) [ 19 ] conformed that the STK1p level increased significantly from normal to benign and then carcinomas (p < 0.0001). When the tumor was resected by extensive open surgery successfully, the level of STK1p decreased with a half-life of nearly 50%.…”