Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the study was to evaluate the prognostic value of free fatty acid (FFA) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in predicting colorectal neuroendocrine tumours (NETs).
Methods
One hundred patients with pathologically diagnosed colorectal NETs in 2011-2017 were enrolled, and the levels of FFA, HDL-C, low-density lipoproteincholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TGs), cholesterol (CHOL), apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) between colorectal NET patients and healthy controls matched by age and sex were compared. In addition, the association of clinicopathological characteristics and follow-up data with FFA and HDL-C was analysed.
Results
FFA was overexpressed (0.55±0.23 vs. 0.48±0.11, P= 0.006) and HDL-C was underexpressed (1.31±0.41 vs. 1.41±0.29, P=0.046) in colorectal NETs. FFA ≥0.52 mmol/L predicted lymph node metastasis (LNM) (χ2 = 5.964, P=0.015), and HDL-C ≤1.0 mmol/L predicted tumour size ≥2 cm (χ2 = 5.647, P=0.017). No significant association was found between FFA and tumour size (P=0.142) or HDL-C and LNM (P=0.443). FFA ≥0.52 mmol/L (χ2 = 6.016, P=0.014) and HDL-C ≤1.0 mmol/L predicted worse overall survival (OS) (χ2 = 5.488, P=0.019). FFA ≥0.52 mmol/L in combination with HDL-C ≤1.0 mmol/L predicted an even worse prognosis in terms of OS (χ2 = 4.818, P=0.028).
Conclusion
FFA ≥0.52 mmol/L and HDL-C ≤1.0 mmol/L were promising cut-off values in predicting LNM, tumour size and worse OS in colorectal NETs.
Measurement of small high density lipoprotein subclass by an improved immunoblotting technique
