p42.3: a promising biomarker for the progression and prognosis of human colorectal cancer

Purpose: As a novel cell cycle-related gene, p42.3 has been shown to play a key role in the cell proliferation and tumorigenicity of gastric Cancer. To date, the association between p42.3 and colorectal Cancer (CRC) has not been reported. This study investigated the expression of p42.3 and its potential role in human colorectal cancers.

Methods: Real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting were used to evaluate p42.3 mRNA and protein expression in 14 pairs of fresh frozen CRC samples, matched with adjacent normal mucosa. The p42.3 protein was evaluated by immunohistochemistry using CRC tissue microarrays, which included 212 CRC specimens and corresponding normal colorectal mucosa. The expression profiles of p42.3 in CRC tissues were analyzed against clinicopathological factors and post-surgical survival status. The expression profiles of p42.3 were also investigated in six human colon carcinoma cell lines.

Results: p42.3 was demonstrated to be over-expressed in colorectal Cancer tissues compared with normal mucosa in the 14 tissue pairs (P = 0.011) and was significantly higher in patients with poor tumor differentiation (P = 0.045); patients positive for p42.3 expression had a poorer prognosis than those not expressing this protein (P = 0.033). In a multivariate survival analysis, p42.3 expression was identified as an independent prognostic factor for CRC patients (P = 0.030).

Conclusions: The results indicated that p42.3 might play an important role in the progression of CRC, and it has a great value for assessing CRC patient prognosis after surgery.