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WEE1 is a serine/threonine protein kinase that inactivates cell division cycle 2 and is therefore a critical cell cycle regulator. Increased WEE1 expression has been observed in numerous types of human malignancies, including hepatocellular carcinoma and melanoma. WEE1 inhibition also results in evident anti-tumor effects in several human tumor cells including colon cancer cells, suggesting WEE1 as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of cancer. However, the expression pattern of WEE1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. In the present study, WEE1 mRNA expression in 43 cases of CRC tissues matched with adjacent normal tissues was determined by reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results demonstrated that WEE1 mRNA expression was significantly increased in CRC tissues and that this upregulation correlated significantly with hepatic metastasis, distant metastasis and high tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage of CRC. Additionally, WEE1 protein in 102 CRC tissue samples was detected by immunohistochemistry, and positive staining of WEE1 was identified in more than half of patients with CRC. WEE1 staining scores were also observed to be associated with distant metastasis and high TNM stage of CRC. In addition, patients with CRC with high WEE1 staining score (2+ or 3+) exhibited either poorer overall survival or poorer disease-free survival compared with those with low WEE1 staining score (0 or 1+). The multivariable Cox model also identified a high WEE1 staining score as well as high TNM stage to be independent prognostic factors for CRC. In conclusion, WEE1 upregulation is associated with a high degree of malignancy and poor prognosis of CRC, suggesting WEE1 as a potential prognostic biomarker for CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES:To assess the diagnostic value of dual energy spectral CT imaging for colorectal cancer grading using the quantitative iodine density measurements in both arterial phase (AP) and venous phase (VP). METHODS:81 colorectal cancer patients were divided into two groups based on their pathological findings: a low grade group including well (n = 13) and moderately differentiated cancer (n = 24), and a high grade group including poorly differentiated (n = 42) and signet ring cell cancer (n = 2). Iodine density (ID) in the lesions was derived from the iodine-based material decomposition (MD) image and normalized to that in the psoas muscle to obtain normalized iodine density (NID). The difference in ID and NID between AP and VP was calculated. RESULTS:The ID and NID values of the low grade cancer group were, 14.65 ± 3.38 mg/mL and 1.70 ± 0.33 in AP, and 21.90 ± 3.11 mg/mL and 2.05 ± 0.32 in VP, respectively. The ID and NID values for the high grade cancer group were 20.63 ± 3.72 mg/mL and 2.95 ± 0.72 in AP, and 26.27 ± 3.10mg/mL and 3.51 ± 1.12 in VP, respectively. There was significant difference for ID and NID between the low grade and high grade cancer groups in both AP and VP (all p