Correlation Between DCAMKL-1 Protein Expression and K-ras Gene Mutation in Colorectal Cancer.

AIM: To investigate the correlation between doublecortin and CaM kinase-like-1 (DCAMKL-1) protein expression, K-ras gene mutation, and their impact on patient prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC).

METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of DCAMKL-1 protein in 60 cases of colorectal adenoma, 82 cases of CRC (including 65 cases of lymph node metastasis) and paraffin-embedded paracancerous intestinal mucosal tissue. K-ras gene mutations in primary CRC lesions were detected using an amplification-refractory mutation system and fluorescent polymerase chain reaction. The relationship between DCAMKL-1 protein expression and K-ras gene mutations with the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with CRC was analyzed. Univariate Kaplan‒Meier survival analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis were performed using follow-up data.

RESULTS: The mutation rate of the K-ras gene in 82 cases of CRC was 48.8% (40/82). The positivity rate for the presence of DCAMKL-1 protein in CRC was 70.7% (58/82), significantly higher than that for colorectal adenomas (53.3%; 32/60) and paracancerous intestinal mucosa (0%; 0/82) ( P <0.05). The positive expression rate for the presence of DCAMKL-1 protein in 65 patients with lymph node metastasis was higher in the primary lesions (69.2%; 45/65) than in the lymph node metastases (52.3%; 34/65) ( χ 2 =12.087, P =0.001). The K-ras gene mutation status was positively correlated with DCAMKL-1 protein expression ( r =0.252, P =0.022).

CONCLUSION: In this study, a potential positive correlation between K-ras gene mutation and DCAMKL-1 protein expression was identified in CRC tissues. The assessment of K-ras gene mutation status and DCAMKL-1 protein expression holds promise for augmenting early diagnosis and prognosis evaluation in CRC. This approach may improve the overall prognosis and survival outcomes for CRC patients.