Expression of MLCK and PCNA in colon cancer tissue and their correlation with metastasis and prognosis

ZHANG Jie; LIU Yongliang; SUN Zhongwei

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-7386.2025.12.012

Abstract：Objective To study the expressions of myosin light chain kinase(MLCK)and proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA)in colon cancer tissues and their correlation with metastasis and prognosis.Methods A total of 100 patients with colon cancer who underwent surgical resection in our hospital from January 2019 to January 2023 were included.Colon cancer tissue and corresponding adjacent tissue(＞5 cm from the tumor edge)of all patients were collected.The expressions of MLCK and PCNA in colon cancer and adjacent normal tissues were detected.Results Among the 100 colon cancer tissues,83 patients had positive expression of MLCK,with the positive expression rate of 83.00％;while in the adjacent tissues,47 patients had MLCK positive expression,with the positive expression rate of 47.00％.The positive expression rate of MLCK in cancer tissues was significantly higher than that of adjacent tissues(P＜0.05).In colon cancer tissue,there were 89 cases of PCNA-positive tissue,with the positive expression rate of 89.00％;there were 17 cases of PCNA-positive adjacent normal tissue,with a positive expression rate of 17.00％.The positive expression rate of PCNA in cancer tissue was significantly higher than that of adjacent tissues(P＜0.05).The positive expression rate of MLCK in colon cancer patients with distant metastasis was significantly higher than that in patients without distant metastasis(P＜0.05).The positive expression rate of MLCK in colon cancer patients with lymph node metastasis was significantly higher than that in patients without lymph node metastasis(P＜0.05).The positive expression rate of MLCK in patients with stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ was significantly higher than that in patients with stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ(P＜0.05).The positive expression rate of PCNA in colon cancer patients with distant metastasis was significantly higher than that in patients without distant metastasis(P＜0.05).The positive expression rate of PCNA in colon cancer patients with lymph node metastasis was significantly higher than that in patients without lymph node metastasis(P＜0.05).The positive expression rate of PCNA in patients with stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ was significantly higher than that in patients with stageⅠ-Ⅱ(P＜0.05).The survival time of patients with positive expression of MLCK was significantly shorter than that of patients with negative expression of MLCK(P＜0.05),and the survival time of patients with positive expression of PCNA was significantly shorter than that of patients with negative expression of PCNA(P＜0.05).Univariate analysis showed that the protein expression of MLCK,the protein expression of PCNA,the degree of tumor differentiation,angiolymphatic infiltration,lymph node metastasis and tumor,node,metastasis(TNM)staging were significantly associated with the prognosis of colon cancer(P＜0.05).Multivariate analysis further showed that he protein expression of MLCK,the protein expression of PCNA,tumor differentiation,angiolymphatic invasion,lymph node metastasis,and TNM staging were independent risk factors for the prognosis of colon cancer patients(P＜0.05).Conclusion The protein expressions of MLCK and PCNA are upregulated in colon cancer tissue,and the positive expression rates of MLCK and PCNA are higher in colon cancer patients with distant metastasis.Their expression levels are related to the prognosis of colon cancer.This study provides a research basis for finding new therapeutic drugs and targets for distant metastasis and prognosis of colon cancer.