title: Overexpression of HOXB9 promotes metastasis and indicates poor prognosis in colon cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Homeobox B9 (HOXB9) is proposed to be involved in tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. We investigated the role of HOXB9 in the progression of colon cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  HOXB9 expression was investigated by immunohistochemically and Western blotting in 128 colon cancer patients and the results were analyzed statistically associated with clinicopathological data and survival of the patients. The effect of HOXB9 on cell invasion and metastases abilities were analyzed in vitro and in vivo.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HOXB9 is overexpressed in colon cancer tissues and significantly correlated with metastasis and poor survival of patients (P<0.05, respectively). Additionally, high levels of expression of HOXB9 were observed in metastatic lymph nodes. The down-regulation of HOXB9 expression can inhibit the migration and invasive ability of colon cancer cells, while exogenous expression of HOXB9 in colon cancer cells enhanced cell migration and invasiveness. Moreover, stable knockdown of HOXB9 reduced the liver and lung metastasis of colon cancer in vivo.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HOXB9 may play an important role in the invasion and metastasis of colon cancer cells and may be a useful biomarker for metastasis and prognostic of colon cancer.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of General Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China ; 2 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jiangxi Provincial Cancer Hospital, Nanchang 330029, China ; 3 Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanchang 330006, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of General Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China ; 2 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jiangxi Provincial Cancer Hospital, Nanchang 330029, China ; 3 Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanchang 330006, China.
authors.forename: Rongfa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of General Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China ; 2 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jiangxi Provincial Cancer Hospital, Nanchang 330029, China ; 3 Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanchang 330006, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of General Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China ; 2 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jiangxi Provincial Cancer Hospital, Nanchang 330029, China ; 3 Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanchang 330006, China.
authors.forename: Junwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of General Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China ; 2 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jiangxi Provincial Cancer Hospital, Nanchang 330029, China ; 3 Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanchang 330006, China.
authors.forename: Zixi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of General Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China ; 2 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jiangxi Provincial Cancer Hospital, Nanchang 330029, China ; 3 Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanchang 330006, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of General Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China ; 2 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jiangxi Provincial Cancer Hospital, Nanchang 330029, China ; 3 Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanchang 330006, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of General Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China ; 2 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jiangxi Provincial Cancer Hospital, Nanchang 330029, China ; 3 Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanchang 330006, China.
authors.forename: Jianghua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shao
keywords: Homeobox B9 (HOXB9); colon cancer; invasion; metastasis; prognostic