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Abstract
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Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most commonly-diagnosed malignancies throughout the
world and the fourth-leading cause of cancer deaths globally. Angiogenesis and the resultant tumor
neovascularization is a well-known cancer hallmark. Here we investigated the expression of FLT1 and KDR,
the influential genes in angiogenesis regulation, in CRC patients.
Methods: We assessed FLT1 and KDR mRNA expression in 47 CRC samples and matched adjacent noncancerous
tissues (ANCT) by quantitative real-time PCR. The Spearmen correlation coefficient and receiver
operating characteristic (ROC) curves were also examined.
Results: Both genes were expressed at significantly greater levels in CRC tissues than in ANCT (p < 0.05). A
significant association was found between KDR expression and disease stage and lymph status in CRC patients.
Furthermore, the Spearman correlation demonstrated a moderate correlation between FLT1 and KDR expression
in CRC samples. Finally, ROC curve analysis demonstrated that FLT1 had the greatest sensitivity (85.1%), while
the greatest specificity was achieved by a combination of the two genes.
Conclusions: The dysregulated FLT1 and KDR expression, in addition to the observed correlation and ROC curve
results, indicate the critical importance of angiogenesis among the cancer pathways in CRC. These data can broaden
our current knowledge of angiogenesis in CRC to improve disease diagnosis and patient treatment.
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