Hu Man, Ou-Yang Wen, Jing Doudou, Chen Rui
Clin Lab. 2019 Aug 1;65(8). doi: 10.7754/Clin.Lab.2019.190122.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) involves the abnormal expression of a set of genetic and epigenetic genes, which may be useful for predicting prognosis. The transcription factor homeobox C9 (HOXC9) is a member of the homeobox family and participates in diverse cellular metabolic processes. In the current study, the prognostic value of HOXC9 in CRC was evaluated by analyzing public data from The Cancer Genome Atlas.
The correlation between clinical features and HOXC9 expression levels was evaluated by logistic regression. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression was performed to determine the association between HOXC9 expression and patient prognosis. Gene set enrichment analysis was conducted to explore the function of HOXC9 in CRC.
HOXC9 showed higher expression in tumor tissue than in normal tissue. An increased level of HOXC9 in CRC was notably associated with an advanced tumor stage (OR = 1.58, for stage I/II vs. stage III/IV, p = 0.037), increased risk of distant metastasis (odds ratio = 1.84, for T1/T2 vs. T3/T4, p = 0.025), and tendency for venous invasion (OR = 2.25, p = 0.003). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that higher HOXC9 levels were predictive of poor overall (p = 0.0083) and progression-free survival (p = 0.0014). Multivariate COX regression model analysis proved that HOXC9 was independently associated with overall survival (hazard ratio = 2.88, 95% confidence interval: 1.14 - 7.29, p = 0.025). Gene set enrichment analysis showed that several biological function symbols were particularly enriched in the increased HOXC9 phenotype.
HOXC9 may play a critical role in CRC progression and serve as a novel potential marker of poor prognosis in CRC.
结直肠癌（CRC）涉及一组遗传和表观遗传基因的异常表达，这可能有助于预测预后。转录因子同源盒C9（HOXC9）是同源盒家族的成员，参与多种细胞代谢过程。在本研究中，通过分析来自癌症基因组图谱的公开数据评估了HOXC9在CRC中的预后价值。
通过逻辑回归评估临床特征与HOXC9表达水平之间的相关性。进行Kaplan-Meier分析和Cox回归以确定HOXC9表达与患者预后之间的关联。进行基因集富集分析以探索HOXC9在CRC中的功能。
HOXC9在肿瘤组织中的表达高于正常组织。CRC中HOXC9水平升高与肿瘤晚期显著相关（I/II期与III/IV期相比，OR = 1.58，p = 0.037），远处转移风险增加（T1/T2与T3/T4相比，优势比 = 1.84，p = 0.025），以及有静脉侵犯倾向（OR = 2.25，p = 0.003）。Kaplan-Meier分析显示，较高的HOXC9水平预示着总体生存率较差（p = 0.0083）和无进展生存率较差（p = 0.0014）。多变量COX回归模型分析证明，HOXC9与总体生存率独立相关（风险比 = 2.88，95%置信区间：1.14 - 7.29，p = 0.025）。基因集富集分析表明，几个生物学功能标志在HOXC9表型增加中特别富集。
HOXC9可能在CRC进展中起关键作用，并可作为CRC预后不良的一种新的潜在标志物。
