Figure 6.

An activator of glycolysis PFKFB3 is overexpressed in colon cancer and is indicative for higher risk of tumor relapse in colon cancer but not rectal cancer. (A), Сolon cancer tissue is massively infiltrated by PFKFB3-positive monocytes. IF/confocal microscopy analysis was performed for 10 colon tumor tissues. The infiltration of CD14+CD68+PFKFB3+ cells was found in all samples. Representative image is given from one patient. Scale bar corresponds to 50 µm in main image and 20 µm in zoom image. (B), Spearman correlation coefficients between PFKFB3 expression, M2 macrophage gene expressions and predicted cell abundance scores, FDR<0.05. (C), Predicted cell composition of CD45+ AOIs and hierarchical clustering of AOIs. (D), Difference in monocyte and macrophage cell abundance scores between the CD45+ AOIs in colon and rectal cancers (the Mann-Whitney U test was applied). (E), PFKFB3 gene expression is elevated in patients with recurrence and larger tumor size in colon cancer. Variance in PFKFB3 expression was stabilized via the variance stabilizing transformation (VST). (F), PFKFB3 had prognostic significance for the DFS and OS. High-risk group had worse survival rates compared to low-risk group. ROC analysis and Kaplan–Meier method were applied.