# PTEN and P-4E-BP1 might be associated with postoperative recurrence of rectal cancer patients undergoing concurrent radiochemotherapy

## TL;DR

This study suggests that PTEN and p-4E-BP1 proteins could help predict if rectal cancer patients will experience a recurrence after treatment.

## Contribution

The study identifies PTEN and p-4E-BP1 as potential biomarkers for predicting postoperative recurrence in rectal cancer patients undergoing radiochemotherapy.

## Key findings

- PTEN expression was higher in patients without local recurrence.
- p-4E-BP1 expression was lower in patients without local recurrence.
- PTEN and p-4E-BP1 may serve as independent risk factors for recurrence.

## Abstract

Local recurrence after surgery and radiochemotherapy seriously affects the prognosis of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients. Studies on molecular markers related to the radiochemotherapy sensitivity of cancers have been widely carried out, which might provide valued information for clinicians to carry out individual treatment.

To find potential biomarkers of tumors for predicting postoperative recurrence.

In this study, LARC patients undergoing surgery and concurrent radiochemotherapy were enrolled. We focused on clinicopathological factors and PTEN, SIRT1, p-4E-BP1, and pS6 protein expression assessed by immunohistochemistry in 73 rectal cancer patients with local recurrence and 76 patients without local recurrence.

The expression of PTEN was higher, while the expression of p-4E-BP1 was lower in patients without local recurrence than in patients with local recurrence. Moreover, TNM stage, lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI), PTEN and p-4E-BP1 might be independent risk factors for local recurrence after LARC surgery combined with concurrent radiochemotherapy.

This study suggests that PTEN and p-4E-BP1 might be potential biomarkers for prognostic prediction and therapeutic targets for LARC.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-024-12339-x.