Aldehyde Dehydragenase 1 and Nodal as Significant Prognostic Markers in Colorectal Cancer.

This study aimed to analyze prognostic significance of aldehyde dehydragenase 1 (ALDH1) and Nodal expression in patients with colorectal cancer. ALDH1 and Nodal expressions were observed based on the immunohistochemistry staining from 108 colorectal cancer patients. Scores were given to the staining intensity and percentage of positive cells, and sum of two scores for each case was used to define the groups of ALDH1 and Nodal. We also investigated the protein and mRNA levels of ALDH1 and Nodal by Western blot and qRT-PCR assays. The results were analyzed with the clinicopathologic parameters of these patients. The results indicated that expressions of ALDH1 and Nodal were significantly correlated with the differentiation degree, metastasis, number of tumor positive lymph nodes and AJCC stage. ALDH1 was inclined to express more in the worse differentiated degrees, lymph node metastasis, and worse AJCC stage of colorectal cancer patients. And the expression of Nodal was inversely compared with ALDH1.While the expression of ALDH1 was inversely correlated with the Nodal (r = -0.709, P < 0.01).