Skin Toxicities During Colorectal Cancer Chemotherapy: Incidence and Pearls of Treatment in Our Experience

Skin Toxicity as a Predictor of Survival in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients Treated with Anti-EGFR: Fact or Fallacy?

The primary treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) consists of targeted therapy and chemotherapy to improve survival. A molecular target drug with an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antagonist is recommended when the RAS and BRAF genes are normal. About 50–70% of patients using anti-EGFR antagonists will experience skin reactions. Some studies have shown that severe skin reactions caused by anti-EGFR antagonists may be linked to overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), but the results are still uncertain. These data of mCRC patients who underwent anti-EGFR therapy between October 2017 and October 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. A total of 111 patients were included in this study. The survival results showed that gender, age, body mass index, primary tumor site, and recurrence did not significantly affect OS and PFS. However, the first-line anti-EGFR inhibitor treatment was significantly associated with OS (p < 0.001) and PFS (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the incidence of acne between males and females in grades 1 and 2, while males have a greater risk in grades 3 and 4 than females (20.3 vs. 4.8%; p-value = 0.041). Skin toxicity was not a predictor of anti-EGFR treatment response in this investigation.

Silencing eL31 suppresses the progression of colorectal cancer via targeting DEPDC1

Background

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed human malignancies. Ribosomal protein L31 (RPL31, aka eL31) is a component of the 60S large ribosomal subunit, and its expression pattern and functional role in CRC have not been reported.

Methods

Herein, we identified that eL31 protein level was dramatically increased in CRC tissues through using IHC analysis. More notably, elevated eL31 was associated with larger tumor size and shorter overall survival. Besides, we evaluated the effects of eL31 depletion on CRC cell phenotypes in vitro.

Results

The data indicated that eL31 knockdown restricted CRC cell proliferation, migration and colony formation whilst enhancing cell apoptosis. Importantly, eL31 was also essential for CRC tumor growth in vivo, as demonstrated by impaired tumor growth markers and reduced Ki67 levels in xenografts from eL31-depleted cells. In addition, our evidence indicated that DEP domain containing 1 (DEPDC1) was a potential downstream target of eL31 in regulating CRC. Consistently, DEPDC1 depletion restrained CRC cell proliferation and migration, as well as facilitated cell apoptosis. More interestingly, DEPDC1 depletion could reverse the promotion effects of eL31 elevation on CRC cells.

Conclusions

Identification of eL31’s function in CRC may pave the way for future development of more specific and more effective targeted therapy strategies against CRC.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-022-03663-6.

Factors associated with returning to work and work ability of colorectal cancer survivors

PURPOSE

The objective of this current study was to describe the status of returning to work and work ability of colorectal cancer survivors and identify the key factors associated with returning to work and work ability of Chinese colorectal cancer patients.

METHODS

A cross-sectional observational study was performed in 212 colorectal cancer survivors who have worked before their colorectal cancer diagnosis. We evaluated patient's return to work (Yes/No), work ability, and factors by questionnaires of the Work Ability Index (WAI), M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory for Gastrointestinal (MDASI-GI), and the Self-Report Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS-SR). Logistic regression analysis and linear regression were used to find the potential predictors with returning to work and work ability.

RESULTS

Participants mostly 145 have returned to work (68.4%). Work ability and psychosocial adjustment of colorectal cancer survivors were at a moderate level. After completing treatment, the patient still had many symptoms, and these symptoms were distress to live. In the two models, survivors with higher family monthly income per capita and lower psychosocial adjustment scores were more likely to have higher work ability and return to work. Survivors with lower symptom distress were more likely to have higher work ability (r =  - 0.038, p = 0.010). Survivors with higher work ability were more likely to return to work (OR = 1.193, 95% CI = (1.116,1.274)).

CONCLUSION

This study confirmed that symptom distress and psychosocial adjustment were significantly associated with colorectal cancer survivors' returning to work and work ability, which should be considered in future intervention research.

RFWD3 Participates in the Occurrence and Development of Colorectal Cancer via E2F1 Transcriptional Regulation of BIRC5

Objectives: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common human malignancies. It was reported that the alterations in the DNA damage response (DDR) pathways are emerging as novel targets for treatment across different cancer types including CRC. RFWD3 plays a critical role in replication protein A (RPA)-mediated DNA damage in cancer cells. More importantly, RFWD3 can response to DNA damage by positively regulating p53 stability when the G1 cell cycle checkpoint is activated. However, the functional significance of RFWD3 in CRC has not been reported in the existing documents.

Materials and Methods: Here, we revealed high expression of RFWD3 in CRC tissues by IHC analysis and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Besides, overexpression of RFWD3 in CRC cell lines was also confirmed by qRT-PCR and western blot assay. The Celigo cell counting method and wound-healing/transwell migration assay were applied to evaluate CRC cell proliferation and migration. The tumor growth indicators were quantified in nude mice xenografted with shRFWD3 and shCtrl RKO cells.

Results: The results indicated that RFWD3 knockdown restricted CRC development in vitro and in vivo. In exploring the downstream mechanism of RFWD3’s action, we found that RFWD3 could transcriptionally activate BIRC5 by interacting with E2F transcription factor 1 (E2F1). Accordingly, we identified BIRC5 as a downstream gene of RFWD3 regulating CRC. Subsequent loss- and gain- of function experiments demonstrated that upon overexpressing BIRC5 in RKO cells with down-regulated RFWD3, the inhibitory effects of cell proliferation, migration and colony formation could be reversed, while the capacity of cell apoptosis was ameliorated, suggesting that the effects of RFWD3 depletion was mainly due to BIRC5 suppression.

Conclusion: Taken together, this study revealed that RFWD3 participates in the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer via E2F1 transcriptional regulation of BIRC5.