Clinical Evaluation of Serum Concentrations of Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Aim: To investigate the correlation between the serum soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and the clinicopathologic features and to evaluate the possible prognostic significance of sICAM-1 concentration in colorectal cancer.

Methods: A total of 56 patients (mean age 57.3 years) having transitional cell carcinoma of the colorectal and 25 control patients (mean age 42.6 years) were enrolled in the study. The serum samples of the patients were obtained on the day before surgery. Sera were obtained by centrifugation, and stored at -80 degrees C until assay. Serum concentrations of ICAM-1 were measured with enzyme-linked immunoassay. Differences between the two groups were analyzed by Student's t-test.

Results: No significant increase of serum sICAM-1 could be demonstrated in the Dukes A(1) patients (352.63+/-61.82 mug/L) compared to the control group (345.72+/-49.81 microg/L, P>0.05), Dukes A(1) patients (352.63+/-61.82 microg/L) compared to Dukes A(2,3) patients (491.17+/-86.36 microg/L, P<0.05). Furthermore, the patients with Dukes B had significantly higher serum concentrations of sICAM-1 than those of the control group (496.82+/-93.04 microg/L vs 345.72+/-49.81 microg/L, P<0.01). Compared with Dukes A(2,3), B colorectal cancer patients, patients with more advanced clinical stage (Dukes C and D) had higher levels of sICAM-1 (743.68+/-113.74 microg/L vs 491.17+/-86.36 microg/L and 496.82+/-93.04 microg/L, P<0.001). The difference was statistically significant in sICAM-1 levels between patients with positive lymph node status and those without lymph node involvement (756.25+/-125.57 microg/L vs 445.62+/-69.18 microg/L, P<0.001). Patients with poorly differentiated colorectal cancer had a higher level of sICAM-1 than those with differentiated and highly differentiated cancer (736.49+/-121.97 microg/L vs 410.23+/-67.47 microg/L, P<0.001).

Conclusion: In this study, serum ICAM-1 levels were found to be related to tumor presence, clinical stages, and grade. Increased ICAM-1 in patients with colorectal cancer which should be considered when the diagnostic and/or prognostic usefulness of soluble ICAM-1 is to be evaluated. sICAM-1 should prove useful for monitoring malignant disease stage and for evaluating the effectiveness of various therapeutic approaches for colorectal carcinomas.