Cytokeratin 7 expression as a predictor of an unfavorable prognosis in colorectal carcinoma

Abstract

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Cytokeratins (CKs) are widely expressed in various types of carcinomas, whereas in CRC it is usually CK7 − and CK20+. A subset of CRCs is CK7+. This study aims to determine the prevalence of CK7 expression in CRC and its impact on overall survival. We analyzed 300 randomly selected surgically treated CRC cases using paraffin embedded tumor tissue samples and evaluated CK7 and CK20 expression using the tissue microarray method. Tumors with positivity > 10% and > 25% of tumor cells were considered CK7 and CK20 positive, respectively. Expression of both CKs and several clinical-pathological variables (stage, grade, laterality, mismatch-repair/MMR status) were evaluated using patient follow up data (Kaplan-Meier analysis of cancer-specific survival (CSS)). Significant results include shorter CSS (restricted mean 4.98 vs. 7.74 years, p = 0.007) and 5-year survival (29.4% vs. 64.6%, p = 0.0221) in CK7 + tumors compared to CK7 − tumors, respectively; without significant association with grade, stage or right-sided location. CK20 + tumors are more frequently MMR-proficient than left-sided. MMR-deficient tumors are more frequently right-sided and had longer survival. CK7 expression, right-sided location (rmean CSS 6.83 vs. 8.0 years, p = 0.043), MMR-deficiency (rmean CSS 7.41 vs. 9.32 years, p = 0.012), and UICC stages III + IV (rmean CSS 6.03 vs. 8.92 years, p < 0.001) of the tumor correlated with negative prognostic outcomes, whereas the most significant results concern stage and CK7 positivity. The result concerning negative prognostic role of CK7 differs from those obtained by several previous studies focused on this topic.

Oral Microbiota-Driven Cell Migration in Carcinogenesis and Metastasis

“…Keratin 7 (KRT7) is a type II cytokeratin and is involved in cell motile activity. It has been proven to be relevant to lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis in CRC (Bayrak et al, 2011;Hrudka et al, 2021). F. nucleatum upregulates the long noncoding RNA KRT7-antisense and stabilizes KRT7 mRNA via the NF-kB pathway (Chen et al, 2020).…”