Evaluation of the Relationship between Peroxisome Proliferator Receptors (PPARα, PPARγ, and PPARδ) Expression and Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Studies have shown that an increase in carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is associated with the progression of colorectal cancer and is considered a sensitive diagnostic factor for CRC. Moreover, the role of peroxisome proliferators (PPARs) has recently been considered in colorectal cancer. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the expression level of PPARs and CEA level in patients with colorectal cancer.

In this study, a total of 100 samples of primary tumor tissue along with adjacent healthy tissue samples and serum samples of patients with colorectal cancer who underwent surgery were prepared from the tumor bank of Tehran Cancer Institute in Thran, Iran. The expression level of peroxisome proliferator receptors (PRARs) in tissue samples and CEA level in serum samples were measured, and the relationship between these markers was evaluated as well. The financial support for the study was provided by the Islamic Azad University (grant number 132655).

The results of this study showed a significant increase in the expression level of PPARs and serum CEA levels in patients with colorectal cancer (P<0.01). Although the level of these markers had a significant relationship with the progression and spread of disease in patients (P<0.01), no significant relationship was observed between the expression of PPARs and serum CEA in these patients (P>0.05).

Based on the obtained results, the expression level of PPARs and the serum CEA level are associated with the progression and spread of the disease; however, there is no significant relationship between the expression level of PPARs and the serum CEA level in patients with colorectal cancer.