Serum TEM5 and TEM7 concentrations correlate with clinicopathologic features and poor prognosis of colorectal cancer patients

Purpose: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a serious threat worldwide; therefore, discovering sensitive and specific serum biomarkers for early stages of CRC is a great challenge. In this study, we evaluated whether tumour endothelial marker 5 (TEM5) and 7 (TEM7) circulating in blood serum can be useful as blood-based markers for detection, progression, and prognosis in CRC patients. Moreover, their specificity and sensitivity in the early diagnosis of CRC were compared with common carcinoma diagnostic markers, i.e. CEA and Ca 19-9.

Materials and methods: The study included 45 CRC patients and 35 healthy individuals. The serum concentration of TEM5 and TEM7 were quantified using sandwich ELISA.

Results: The mean TEM5 and TEM7 serum concentrations were statistically significantly higher in the CRC patients than in the healthy controls. Moreover, the mean TEM5 and TEM7 concentrations were statistically significantly higher in the serum of patients with late stage (III/IV) compared to early stage (I/II) cancer. The TEM5 and TEM7 values increased along the development of the T, N, and M stages. The TEM5 and TEM7 sensitivity and specificity in CRC detection were higher than routinely used blood markers (CEA, Ca19-9). The high TEM5 and TEM7 concentrations were associated with worse overall survival compared to CRC patients of low TEM5 and TEM7 concentrations.

Conclusions: Taken together, these findings suggest that TEM5 and TEM7 serum concentrations can be considered as useful biomarkers for the detection of CRC patients and for monitoring cancer progression and identifying patients with a high possibility of poor survival.