Alpha-L-fucosidase enzyme in the prediction of colorectal cancer patients at high risk of tumor recurrence.

The aim of this study was to examine the prognostic value of the alpha-L-fucosidase enzyme to determine whether it can help in the early recognition of colorectal cancer cases at high risk of tumor recurrence. One hundred and twenty-three colorectal carcinoma patients treated by curative surgery were studied. The alpha-L-fucosidase activity was assayed in the tumor and in normal mucosa from each patient using a fluorometric method. Seven other clinical and pathologic features were also studied. To evaluate the impact of each variable over the disease-free interval, a postoperative 30-month follow-up of patients was performed, and a statistical survival analysis was carried out. The recurrence appearance was higher when the relative decrease of alpha-L-fucosidase activity was more than 52% (log-rank test, P = .0261). The results of this work indicate that alpha-L-fucosidase activity appears to be a good independent prognostic factor of tumoral recurrence in colorectal carcinoma.