Abstract
BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is the 4th most reported reason for cancer death worldwide. It is a complex and multifaceted disease with diverse histopathological manifestations. CD70 is present on activated immune cells and is upregulated in patients who have finished adjuvant therapy. VEGF controls angiogenesis and demonstrates immuno-regulatory characteristics that inhibit the anticancer activity of immune cells. CD90 is an extracellular cancer stem cell marker and regulates apoptosis, cell migration, and T cell activation. AIM OF WORK: to elucidate the prognostic potential of a combined immunohistochemical assessment of CD70, VEGF, and CD90 biomarkers in colorectal cancer tissues. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our study is a retrospective study done on 70 paraffin blocks (45 colorectal carcinoma cases and 11 adenomas, along with 14 cases of colitis serving as controls) were subjected to conventional Hematoxylin and Eosin stain for routine histopathological assessment and immunohistochemical staining for CD70, VEGF and CD90. Our investigation focused on evaluating the expression of CD70, VEGF, and CD90 in various colorectal tissues, including colitis, adenomas, and adenocarcinomas, as well as different grades of adenocarcinoma tissues, different stages of tumor invasiveness, and lymph node status. RESULTS: Our research revealed distinctive expression patterns of CD70, VEGF, and CD90 across different stages and grades of colorectal cancer. CONCLUSION: our research signifies the potential clinical utility of the CD70, VEGF, and CD90 triad as prognostic markers in colorectal cancer. The combined analysis of these markers emerged as a potent prognostic tool, offering valuable insights into disease progression. Our research showed that epithelial CD90 is the most sensitive marker for both tumor stage and lymph node status. CD70 and VEGF showed a statistically significant relation with lymph node status only and not with tumor stage.