AccScience Publishing / EJMO / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/EJMO025210202
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Enhanced expression of metastasis-associated genes in colorectal cancer

Adeodatus Yuda Handaya1,2* ,  Hendra Susanto3 ,  Moch Sholeh4
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1 Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2 Digestive Surgery Division, Sardjito Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, East Java, Indonesia
4 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia
EJMO, 025210202 https://doi.org/10.36922/EJMO025210202
Received: 19 May 2025 | Revised: 23 June 2025 | Accepted: 23 July 2025 | Published online: 18 August 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Introduction: Globally, colorectal cancer (CRC) continues to be a major cause of cancer-related morbidity and death, with metastasis—particularly to the liver—significantly worsening patient outcomes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of key epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) transcription factors (Snail family transcriptional repressor 1 [SNAI1], zinc finger e-box binding homeobox 1 [ZEB1], Slug, Twist, and metastasis-associated protein 3 [MTA3]) and the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in CRC cases with and without metastasis to the liver.

Methods: A total of 41 CRC patients (20 non-metastatic, 21 with liver metastasis) from Dr. Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta, were examined utilizing reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction of the adjacent normal tissues and the tumors.

Results: SNAI1, ZEB1, Slug, Twist, and TNF-α were significantly upregulated in metastatic CRC, while MTA3 was downregulated. Expression of these markers correlated with body mass index, liver enzymes (aspartate aminotransferase), and cancer stage.

Conclusion: These findings highlight the central role of EMT-related transcription factors and inflammatory signaling in CRC metastasis and suggest that targeting these pathways could offer novel therapeutic strategies for metastatic CRC.

Keywords
Colorectal cancer
Liver metastasis
Body weight loss
Metastasis marker
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declared that there were no conflict of interest in this work.
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Eurasian Journal of Medicine and Oncology, Electronic ISSN: 2587-196X Print ISSN: 2587-2400, Published by AccScience Publishing
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