title: Integrin αvβ6 and transcriptional factor Ets-1 act as prognostic indicators in colorectal cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Both transcriptional factor Ets-1 and integrin αvβ6 play an important role in the development and progression of cancer. The aim of our study was to investigate the expression of Integrin αvβ6 and Ets-1, two proteins' correlation and their clinical significance in colorectal cancerous tissues.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The specimens were arranged into microarray using the immunohistochemistry method to investigate the expression of integrin αvβ6 and transcriptional factor Ets-1 in these tissues. Among the 158 tissue specimens, 36.07% were positive for αvβ6 expression, and 57.59% were positive for Ets-1 expression. There were obvious statistical differences existed regarding differentiation, N stage, M stage and TNM stage between αvβ6 and Ets-1 positively and negatively expressing tumors. The correlation analysis confirmed the expression of αvβ6 and Ets-1 were positively correlated in colorectal cancer. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients who were both αvβ6 and Ets-1 positive relapsed earlier than those who were both αvβ6 and Ets-1 negative; and the former group had much shorter survival time than the latter. And Cox model indicated that αvβ6 and Ets-1 were the independent prognostic factors (RR = 2.175, P = 0.012 and RR = 3.903, P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The expression of αvβ6 and Ets-1 were positively correlated, and their expression degrees were associated with the differentiation, N stage, M stage and TNM stage of the tumors. Hence, the combination of αvβ6 and Ets-1 can be used as a prognostic marker in colorectal cancer, especially for the early stage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, QiLu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, QiLu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong China.
authors.forename: Huijie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, QiLu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong China.
authors.forename: Zhengchuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, QiLu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong China.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Health Science College, The State University of New York -Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY USA.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, QiLu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong China.
authors.forename: Weibo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, QiLu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong China.
authors.forename: Enyu
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, QiLu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong China.
authors.forename: Jiayong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinan Central Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong China.
authors.forename: Jiuzheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, QiLu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong China.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shahbaz
authors.affiliation: Newcastle Bowel Cancer Research Collaborative, Hunter Medical Research Institute, John Hunter Hospital and Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Agrez
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, QiLu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Niu