title: Expression and clinicopathological significance of EED, SUZ12 and EZH2 mRNA in colorectal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Enhancer of zeste 2 (EZH2), embryonic ectoderm development (EED), and suppressor of zeste 12 homolog (SUZ12), the key component of polycomb repressive complex 2, are of great importance in human cancer pathogenesis. This study was designed to investigate the clinical and prognostic significances of EZH2, EED and SUZ12 in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The expression of EZH2, EED and SUZ12 mRNA was evaluated in 82 primary CRC and paired non-cancerous mucosa samples by qRT-PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that overall EZH2, EED and SUZ12 mRNA expression in the CRC tissues was significantly increased than in the non-cancerous tissue (p < 0.05). Increased EZH2, EED and SUZ12 mRNA expression was directly correlated with primary tumor size, regional lymph node metastases, distant metastasis and AJCC stage. Furthermore, CRC patients with higher level of EED, SUZ12 or EZH2 showed a worse disease-free survival (DFS) (p < 0.01). In multivariate analysis, the increased EZH2 expression may be a risk factor for the patients' 3-year DFS (HR 2.517; 95% CI 1.104, 5.736; p = 0.028). Furthermore, the k-means cluster analysis showed that high mRNA expression of EED, SUZ12 and EZH2 was significantly correlated with the aggressive clinical behavior and poor prognosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High expression of EED, SUZ12 and EZH2 might contribute to the CRC development/progression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Colorectal Surgery, The Affiliated Tumor Hospital, Harbin Medical University, No. 150, Haping Rd, Nangang District, Harbin, 150081, Heilongjiang, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Long
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Gan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zi-Cheng
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Bin-Bin
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Yan-Mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D015153:Blotting, Western; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D000071221:Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 Protein; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D063151:Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014157:Transcription Factors
chemical_list: C491488:EED protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C430461:SUZ12 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors; C498409:EZH2 protein, human; D000071221:Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 Protein; D063151:Polycomb Repressive Complex 2