Ephrin-A1 mRNA is associated with poor prognosis of colorectal cancer.

Ephrin-A1 mRNA is associated with poor prognosis of colorectal cancer.

International journal of oncology (2012-12-22)

Hirofumi Yamamoto, Mitsuyoshi Tei, Mamoru Uemura, Ichiro Takemasa, Yoshio Uemura, Kohei Murata, Mutsumi Fukunaga, Masayuki Ohue, Tadashi Ohnishi, Kimimasa Ikeda, Takeshi Kato, Shu Okamura, Masakazu Ikenaga, Naotsugu Haraguchi, Junichi Nishimura, Tsunekazu Mizushima, Koshi Mimori, Yuichiro Doki, Masaki Mori

PMID23258614

ABSTRACT

We previously studied hypoxic tumor cells from hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer (CRC) and determined several potential prognostic factors, including expression of ephrin-A1 (EFNA1), which was highly induced by hypoxia. Here, we further evaluated the prognostic impact of EFNA1 expression. Samples from a total of 366 CRC patients from 11 institutes were analyzed by either microarray (n=220) or quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (n=146). EFNA1 was an independent prognostic factor for CRC (p<0.05). In vitro assays revealed that loss of EFNA1 following siRNA treatment was associated with reduced proliferative activity and decreased invasion and migration of CRC cell lines. EFNA1 expression is a useful marker for predicting high risk of relapse and cancer-related death in patients who have undergone curative resection for CRC.