Overexpression Promotes Colorectal Cancer Progression and Is Associated with Worse Survival in Liver Resection Patients for Colorectal Liver Metastases.

As is known, HOXB9 is an important factor affecting disease progression and overall survival (OS) in cancer. However, its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. We aimed to explore the role of HOXB9 in CRC progression and its association with OS in colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). We analysed differential expression in CRC using the Tissue Cancer Genome Atlas database (TCGA). We modulated expression in vitro to assess its impact on cell proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Lastly, we explored the association of HOXB9 protein expression with OS, using an institutional patient cohort ( = 110) who underwent liver resection for CRLM. Furthermore, was upregulated in TCGA-CRC ( = 644) vs. normal tissue ( = 51) and its expression levels were elevated in mutations ( < 0.0001). In vitro, HOXB9 overexpression increased cell proliferation ( < 0.001) and upregulated the mRNA expression of EMT markers (, , , , and ) while downregulated , ( < 0.05 for all comparisons). Conversely, silencing disrupted cell growth ( < 0.0001). High HOXB9 expression (HR = 3.82, 95% CI: 1.59-9.2, = 0.003) was independently associated with worse OS in CRLM-HOXB9-expressing patients after liver resection. In conclusion, HOXB9 may be associated with worse OS in CRLM and may promote CRC progression, whereas HOXB9 silencing may inhibit CRC growth.