title: Galanin plays an important role in cancer invasiveness and is associated with poor prognosis in stage II colorectal cancer.
abstract: Reliable predictors of tumor recurrence for patients with stage II colorectal cancer (CRC) are needed to select patients who should receive adjuvant chemotherapy. Although galanin (GAL) is expressed in several malignant tumors and is associated with cell proliferation and tumor growth, the prognostic value of GAL expression in CRC is poorly understood. We compared GAL expression between 56 patients with stage II and III CRC who developed tumor recurrences and 56 patients who did not. The clinical and prognostic significance of GAL expression was examined using our data and independent public datasets. We also analyzed the influence of GAL expression on the proliferation and invasive activity of CRC cells. Higher expression of GAL was associated with tumor recurrence among the CRC patients (P<0.001). Stage II CRC patients who presented with high expression levels of GAL had significantly poorer prognosis than those with low expression levels of GAL [5-year overall survival: hazard ratio (HR), 7.31; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.38-24.04; P<0.001; 5-year recurrence-free survival: HR, 3.99; 95% CI, 1.61‑9.44; P=0.004], but there was no association between GAL expression and survival in stage III CRC patients. These findings were supported by analysis of two public datasets. Functionally, siRNA-mediated silencing of GAL resulted in a significant decrease in the proliferative and invasive activities of CRC cells. In conclusion, high expression of GAL is associated with poor prognosis of stage II CRC patients and GAL expression may be related to the aggressive behavior of CRC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Oncology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Higashi‑ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: Kinuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagayoshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Oncology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Higashi‑ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueki
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Kosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tashiro
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomic Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mizuuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Oncology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Higashi‑ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Manabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomic Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oda
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuhara
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Oncology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Higashi‑ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D019004:Galanin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D045325:HCT116 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: C056567:GAL protein, human; D019004:Galanin