Abstract
Increased serum concentrations of the β subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCGβ) are associated with adverse prognosis in several cancers. The aim of the present study was to analyse the association between serum hCGβ recurrence, and survival, in patients with colorectal cancer. The concentrations of hCGβ were determined in serum collected preoperatively from 324 patients with colorectal cancer, of whom 270 were curatively treated. The serum concentrations of hCGβ were associated with increasing age and they were higher in women than in men. Using the 75th percentile (1.55 pmol/L) as a cut-off for serum hCGβ, overall survival (OS) was shorter in patients with elevated concentrations (HR 1.95; 95% CI 1.39–2.74; P=0.004), and this association was stronger in women (P=0.022) than in men (P=0.061). In multivariate analyses including age, disease stage, tumour differentiation, vascular invasion and CEA, high serum hCGβ concentrations remained an independent prognostic factor for adverse OS in women (HR 2.26; 95%CI 1.39–3.67), but not in men (HR 0.78; 95%CI 0.41–1.51). The same trend was observed for disease free- and cancer specific survival. High serum concentration of hCGβ is an independent prognostic factor for adverse outcome in women with colorectal cancer.