The High Expression of SLC7A11 and GPX4 are Significantly Correlated with β-Catenin in Colorectal Cancer.

Background: Existing research shows inducing ferroptosis can improve the effectiveness of tumor treatment. Glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) is a ferroptosis inhibitor. Solute carrier family 7, membrane 11 (SLC7A11) plays a key role in glutathione homeostasis, which is important for protecting cells from oxidative stress. β-catenin is the key protein the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of SLC7A11 and GPX4 in colorectal cancer (CRC) and their relationship with β-catenin and to analyze the association of these two factors with several clinicopathological features and patient survival.

Methods: This study retrospectively collected paraffin-embedded tissue samples from 120 CRC patients, who received surgical resection between 2017 and 2018. We examined the patterns of expression of SLC7A11, GPX4 and β-catenin by using immunohistochemistry. Analyzing the relationships between SLC7A11, GPX4, β-catenin and clinical pathological parameters and their relationships with overall survival (OS).

Results: Expression of SLC7A11 and GPX4 were high expression in 60.83% and 64.17% among the patients, respectively, and were higher than those in normal tissue. SLC7A11, GPX4 and β-catenin were positively correlated with each other (P<0.05). Expression of SLC7A11 and GPX4 significantly correlates with tumor stage and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). The β-catenin was related to lymph node metastasis, TNM stage and tumor grade. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patient's OS in the SLC7A11 and GPX4 were reduced (P<0.05). Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that SLC7A11 and GPX4 were independent risk factors for CRC prognosis.

Conclusion: SLC7A11 and GPX4 overexpression is associated with β-catenin and poor prognosis and may be important for predicting CRC invasion, metastasis, and prognosis.