Purpose
Prognostic markers that identify patients with stage II colon cancers (CC) who are at risk of recurrence are essential to personalize therapy. We evaluated the potential of GIV/Girdin as a predictor of recurrence risk in such patients.
Experimental Design
Expression of full-length GIV was evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using a newly developed monoclonal antibody together with a mismatch repair (MMR)-specific antibody panel in three stage II CC patient cohorts, ie. a training (n=192), test (n=317), and validation (n=181) cohort, with clinical follow-up data. Recurrence risk stratification models were established in the training cohort of T3, proficient MMR (pMMR) patients without chemotherapy and subsequently validated.
Results
For T3 pMMR tumors, GIV expression and the presence of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) were the only factors predicting recurrence in both training (GIV: HR:2.78, p=0.013; LVI: HR 2.54, p=0.025) and combined test and validation (pooled) cohorts (GIV, HR:1.85, p=0.019; LVI, HR:2.52, p=0.0004). A risk model based on GIV expression and LVI-status classified patients into high- or low-risk groups; 3-year recurrence-free survival was significantly lower in the high-risk versus low-risk group across all cohorts (Training: 52.3% versus 84.8%; HR:3.74, 95%CI: 1.50–9.32; Test: 85.9% versus 97.9%, HR:7.83, 95%CI:1.03–59.54; Validation: 59.4% versus 84.4%, HR:3.71, 95%CI: 1.24–11.12).
Conclusions
GIV expression status predicts recurrence risk in patients with T3 pMMR stage II CC. A risk model combining GIV expression and LVI-status information further enhances prediction of recurrence. Further validation studies are warranted before GIV status can be routinely included in patient management algorithms.