Methylated septin 9 gene is an important prognostic marker in stage II and stage III colorectal cancer for evaluating local recurrence or distant metastasis after surgery

BACKGROUND: Abnormal hypermethylation of the septin 9 gene was an inchoate incident in some cancers. Though latest several researches had paid attention to its value in prognosis, the consequences were not distinctly, especially in colorectal cancer (CRC) with stage II and stage III. PURPOSE: The aim of this research was to pick up the prognostic value of the methylated septin 9 gene (mSEPT9) in CRC patients, particularly in TNM stage II—III. METHODS: Blood samples before surgery were obtained from 144 CRC patients, of which there were 94 with stage II and stage III. mSEPT9 was considered positive when the cycle number of the peak reaction (Ct) was lower than the threshold value (41.0) for two times during three times PCR test. mSEPT9 and other relative factors of prognosis were estimated by survival analysis. The level of septin 9 in tissues was tested by immunohistochemical (IHC). RESULTS: Stage II and stage III patients with mSEPT9 positive (mSEPT9+) had a lower disease-free survival (DFS) rate than those with mSEPT9 negative (mSEPT9-) (2-year DFS rates, 52.1% vs 73.9%, P = 0.014). In multivariate regression analysis, mSEPT9 was also an independent predictor of prognosis (HR = 2.741, P = 0.009). The risk of local recurrence or distant metastasis in CRC patients after surgery was mSEPT9+ with stage III, mSEPT9- with stage III/mSEPT9+ with stage II, and mSEPT9- with stage II (P = 0.001), from highest to lowest. In addition, mSEPT9 was strongly associated with TNM staging, tumor immersion depth, distant metastasis, differentiation degree, vascular invasion and microsatellite. When we explored the associations between septin 9 protein level revealed by IHC and other elements, recurrence/progression (R = − 0.523, P = 0.001), mSEPT9 status (R = − 0.451, P = 0.004) and T stage (R = − 0.375, P = 0.017) showed significant correlations. CONCLUSIONS: Positive mSEPT9 is a poor prognostic marker for CRC patients in stage II and III. It is also a powerful complement to TNM staging in predicting postoperative DFS of CRC patients of stage II and III.