High ALDH1 expression in colorectal carcinoma could predict early onset of the disease

Background: Worldwide there is an increase in the trend of early onset of colorectal carcinoma in individuals who are less than 45 years of age. The composition of young age colorectal cases ranges from 35% to 40% in India. Currently, we do not have the access to any molecular marker that could predict early onset of the disease and its clinical course. Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1), Twist, E Cadherin and Vimentin are markers for cancer stem cells and epithelial mesenchymal transition. However, there is paucity of data on their clinical significance in terms of their impact on early onset of colorectal carcinoma. This lack of data prompted us to investigate their role in the early onset of the colorectal cancer. Methods: Immunohistochemisty of ALDH1, Twist, E Cadherin and Vimentin was performed in pre treatment biopsy samples collected from 103 colorectal patients who were further divided into 2 groups: viz, less than or equal to 45 years and more than 46 years. Results: Over expression of ALDH1, Twist, E Cadherin and Vimentin was observed in 75.7%, 90.3%, 92.2% and 2.9% of pre treatment colorectal carcinoma tissue specimens respectively. ALDH1 expression was found to have strong correlation with early onset of the disease (patients who were less than or equal to 45 years of age (P=0.003). Women patients were found predominantly non smokers (P=0.001) and non tobacco chewers (P=0.004) with respect to men. Conclusion: High ALDH1 expression correlates with the early onset of colorectal cancer. None of other markers could reach statistical significance with the early or late onset of colorectal cancer. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Litika Vermani, N Senthil Kumar, Anuradha Talukdar, Monoj Deka, Ravi Kannan, Rajeev Kumar. High ALDH1 expression in colorectal carcinoma could predict early onset of the disease [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4924.