Serum Expression of β-Catenin Is a Potential Detection Marker in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Abstract

Object. To investigate the correlation between the level of serum β-catenin and the disease progression of colorectal polyp (CRP) and colorectal cancer (CRC) and find its potential diagnostic value. Methods. A total of 327 clinical serum samples and their electronic medical records were collected. Detecting by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the correlations of serum β-catenin with tumor marker carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and CRC clinicopathological parameters and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were analyzed. Results. Serum β-catenin levels in the CRP and CRC patients were significantly higher than those in the healthy control (HC) group (P<0.05 and P<0.001). Compared with CRP, serum β-catenin level in CRC was also increased (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in gender, age, location, tumor size, Dukes staging, or metastasis (P>0.05) between serum β-catenin and clinical parameters of CRC. There was no correlation between serum β-catenin levels and CEA in CRC patients (P=0.14). ROC curve analysis showed that serum β-catenin possessed the maximum diagnostic efficiency in CRP (AUC=0.73, P<0.05) with 86.41% sensitivity and 51.56% specificity. β-Catenin combined with CEA had the highest diagnostic efficiency (AUC=0.88, P<0.05) with 81.88% sensitivity and 73.44% specificity. With CRC patients from CRP patients, ROC analysis of the combining detection (AUC=0.70, P<0.05) had the 70% sensitivity and 84.5% specificity. Conclusion. The serum β-catenin levels are gradually increased in CRP and CRC, while there is no correlation between its levels and CRC disease process. Single serum β-catenin or combined CEA would be one of the potential candidate biomarkers for colorectal disease diagnosis.