Abstract. The objective of the present study was to examine the expression of Silent information regulator 1 (Sirt1) in colorectal cancer and peritumoral normal mucosa tissue, and therefore analyze the role and molecular mechanism of Sirt1 in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer tissue specimens were employed as the experimental group, and adjacent normal mucosa tissues >5 cm from tumor lesions were used as the control group. The expression of Sirt1 was detected by the immunohistochemical streptavidin peroxidase detection method in paraffin-embedded sections, whilst Sirt1 protein expression was examined by western blot analysis in the fresh tissues. Sirt1 protein was primarily expressed in the nuclei of the tumor cells, and positive staining was brownish-yellow in color. The relative expression quantities of Sirt1 in the peritumoral normal rectal mucosa and rectal carcinoma were 1.15 and 2.62, and the differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). The expression level of Sirt1 in colorectal carcinoma was significantly associated with the depth of tumor invasion, differentiation and tumor size (P<0.05). Sirt1 expression was also found to be associated with tumor tissue type, lymph node metastasis, Duke's stage and patient age. These characteristics combined may therefore be used as markers for the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer pathogenesis.
IntroductionColorectal cancer occurs in the colorectal mucosa and colonic glands and is one of the most common types of malignant tumor of the digestive system (1,2). The worldwide incidence and mortality rates of colorectal cancer increased significantly between 2009 and 2013; in 2013, a total of 142,820 new cases were diagnosed and 50,830 mortalities occurred as a result of colorectal cancer (3). Thus, this malignancy presents a serious threat to human health (1,2). Clinical and pathological data of patients with colorectal cancer in China have demonstrated the following pathogenic characteristics: The number of patients in cities is higher than that in the countryside, indicating a clear urbanization trend; and patients <30 years of age account for >10% of the total number of patients, demonstrating a clear trend towards older age (4). Surgical resection is currently the main method used for the treatment of colorectal cancer. However, as significant symptoms are often not present in the early stages of the disease, patients are frequently diagnosed in the later stages; by this time, the optimal period for surgery has passed. Furthermore, metastasis or recurrence occurs in a large number of patients following surgical resection, affecting the prognosis of the patients. Therefore, the five-year survival rate is low (64%), posing a serious threat to patient health (5,6).The occurrence and pathogenesis of colorectal cancer is a complex, multistep process, regulated by a number of different genes (1). A total of 25% of patients with colorectal cancer have a genetic history, which is associated with familial adenomatous pol...