The relationship between APOC1 expression and prognostic parameters and survival in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancers are the third most common type of cancer and the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths. Colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates are increasing worldwide. Many factors with prognostic significance have been identified. Histological grade and stage of the tumor, lymph node metastasis, macroscopic tumor diameter are among the prognostic factors. In our study, we aimed to determine the relationship between APOC1 expression and prognostic factors and survival in colorectal cancers. The study included 90 cases of colon adenocarcinoma (19 well differentiated, 55 moderately differentiated, 16 poorly differentiated) selected from the archive of our hospital. Clinicopathological parameters such as gender, age, histological grade, macroscopic tumour diameter, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, TNM stage and survival status were obtained from the digital archiving system. APOC1 staining was performed immunohistochemically on the sections of paraffin blocks of the selected cases. Prognostic values and survival were statistically compared with APOC1 staining index. No significant correlation was found between APOC1 staining index and gender, age, tumour localisation, histological grade, tumour infiltrating lymphocytes, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, N stage, metastasis and TNM stage (p>0.05). APOC1 staining index was significantly correlated with macroscopic tumour diameter and T stage (p<0.05). In survival analyses, the survival time of patients with high APOC1 expression was found to be shorter than that of patients with low expression and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). Cox regression analysis also showed that high APOC1 expression was associated with worsened overall survival (<0.05). In conclusion, high APOC1 expression may be associated with a worse prognosis. It has been determined that APOC1 can be used as an independent prognostic marker in colorectal cancers. APOC1 may be promising for the planning and execution of appropriate targeted therapies, as well as for improving survival predictions in colorectal cancer. Key Words: Colorectal cancer, APOC1 expression, Prognostic parameters, Survival, Immunohistochemistry,