Expression of serine-threonine kinase 31 in colorectal cancer and implication

Objective To identify the cancer testis antigens associated with colorectal cancer for clinical diagnosis and target therapy.Methods The expression level of serine-threonine kinase 31 (STK31) was assayed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in all the spicemens,including peripheral blood and cancer tissues from colorectal cancer cases (n =45) and non-tumor cases (n =15) in our hospital.Results STK31 expression between metastatic tissues (0.007 78±0.010 80) and non-metastatic cancer tissues (0.002 40 ± 0.005 31) showed significant difference (P ＜ 0.01).There was also significant difference in the STK31 expression in peripheral blood between colorectal cancer cases with (0.000 177 ±0.000 223) and without (0.000 481 ±0.000 458) metastasis (P ＜0.05),while there was no statistically significant difference (P ＞ 0.05) when compared with non-tumor cases (0.000 275 ±0.000 312).Conclusion STK31 might be a potential predictor for metastasis of colorectal cancer. Key words: Cancer testis antigen;  Serine-threonine kinase 31 ;  Colorectal cancer;  Metastesis