Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most frequently diagnosed tumors worldwide with high mortality and morbidity. There is an urgent need for biomarkers to improve the outcomes and early detection of CRC. The sensitivity of traditional CRC tumor markers (carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9)) is not ideal. The levels of leucine-rich-alpha-2-glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) and stem cell factor (SCF) were evaluated, but the combined value of both markers is unclear. This case-control study included four groups: CRC patients before treatments (n = 22), CRC patients after treatments (n = 26), 20 patients with benign tumor, and 20 healthy subjects. Levels of routine biochemical and hematological markers, traditional tumor markers (CA19.9 and CEA), and candidate markers (LRG1 and SCF) were determined. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis and area receiver-operating characteristic analysis (ROC) were used for evaluation the diagnostic performances of single and combined markers. No significance difference in traditional tumor markers CEA, CA 19.9, and neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were found among study groups. SCF, LRG1, and platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in non-treated CRC patients than after treated CRC. The combination between SCF and LRG1 showed highly significant difference in CRC patients compared with benign, healthy subjects, and among CRC groups (treated and non-treated) (p < 0.0001). The highest areas under curve (AUCs) were observed when LRG1 was used as a single predictor for discriminating CRC from healthy (0.87), benign (0.84), and non-treated CRC vs treated CRC (0.82). AUCs were jumped to 0.90, 0.84, and 0.84 when LRG1 and SCF were combined. Our study revealed that LRG1 and SCF were potential diagnostic and follow-up markers for CRC.

中文翻译：

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富含亮氨酸的α-2-糖蛋白1和干细胞因子在大肠癌诊断和随访中的诊断性能

大肠癌（CRC）是世界范围内最常见的高死亡率和高发病率肿瘤之一。迫切需要生物标志物来改善结直肠癌的结局和早期发现。传统CRC肿瘤标志物（癌胚抗原（CEA）和碳水化合物抗原19-9（CA19-9））的敏感性不理想。评价了富含亮氨酸的α-2-糖蛋白1（LRG1）和干细胞因子（SCF）的水平，但尚不清楚这两种标记物的组合值。该病例对照研究包括四组：治疗前的CRC患者（n = 22），治疗后的CRC患者（n = 26），20例良性肿瘤患者和20名健康受试者。确定了常规生化和血液标志物，传统肿瘤标志物（CA19.9和CEA）以及候选标志物（LRG1和SCF）的水平。单因素和多因素逻辑回归分析以及区域接受者操作特征分析（ROC）用于评估单个标记和组合标记的诊断性能。在研究组中，传统肿瘤标志物CEA，CA 19.9和中性白细胞-淋巴细胞比率（NLR）均无显着差异。与未治疗的CRC患者相比，未治疗的CRC患者的SCF，LRG1和血小板-淋巴细胞比率（PLR）显着降低（p <0.05）。与良性，健康受试者以及CRC组（治疗组和未治疗组）相比，CRC患者中SCF和LRG1的组合表现出高度显着差异（p <0.0001）。当LRG1用作将CRC与健康（0.87），良性（0.84），以及未治疗的CRC与治疗的CRC（0.82）。当LRG1和SCF合并时，AUC跳至0.90、0.84和0.84。我们的研究表明，LRG1和SCF是CRC的潜在诊断和后续标记。