Expression of TMED3 is independently associated with colorectal cancer prognosis.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer type and one of the deadliest cancers worldwide. Transmembrane p24 trafficking protein 3 (TMED3) has previously been indicated to suppress CRC metastasis, but its clinical significance has remained undetermined. In the present study, the expression of TMED3 was indicated to be elevated at the mRNA and protein levels in CRC tumor samples relative to that in para-cancerous healthy tissue samples (P<0.05). Furthermore, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed a significant negative association between elevated TMED3 protein levels and overall survival of patients with CRC (P<0.001, log-rank test). Multivariate Cox regression analysis additionally determined that elevated TMED3 expression in primary CRC tumors was an independent predictor of poor prognosis (P<0.05). These results revealed that elevated TMED3 expression in CRC was associated with patient survival outcomes, suggesting that TMED3 may be a potential prognostic biomarker for this cancer type.