title: Expression of Oct-4 is significantly associated with the development and prognosis of colorectal cancer.
abstract: Octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct-4), is an essential transcription factor, which is required for pluripotency and self-renewal in embryonic stem cells and germ cells. It is also involved in maintaining cancer stem-like properties in certain types of tumor, and is an important biomarker for cancer stem cells. The present study investigated whether Oct-4 expression was associated with colorectal cancer (CRC). In order to achieve this, primary CRC tissues, matched non-tumor tissues and benign polyp tissues, representing different stages of carcinogenesis, were obtained, and Oct-4 expression was analyzed using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, flow cytometry analysis and immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, the medical records of patients with CRC were reviewed, and clinicopathological analysis was performed in order to assess the association between Oct-4 expression and certain clinicopathological parameters. It was shown that the transcription and translation of Oct-4 increased in a stepwise manner, from non-tumor to benign polyp tissues, and from benign polyps to CRC tissues. Oct-4 expression in CRC was significantly correlated with histological grade (P=0.007), lymph node metastasis (P=0.027), distant metastasis (P=0.017) and TNM stage (P=0.041). Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis demonstrated that Oct-4+cases had a shorter median survival time (37.0 months) compared with Oct-4-cases (76.0 months; P=0.001). These results indicated that aberrant expression of Oct-4 may be involved in the development of CRC. Thus, Oct-4 may be a biomarker for the prediction, diagnosis or assessment of prognosis in CRC, in addition to a potential target for the treatment of this disease.
authors.affiliation: Medical Biotechnology Institute of Soochow University, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215007, P.R. China ; Department of Clinical Laboratory, No. 4 People's Hospital of Wuxi, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214062, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, No. 4 People's Hospital of Wuxi, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214062, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Y U
authors.initials: YU
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Medical College, Soochow University, Soochow, Jiangsu 215123, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Weipeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, No. 4 People's Hospital of Wuxi, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214062, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow, Jiangsu 215006, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jingjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Medical Biotechnology Institute of Soochow University, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215007, P.R. China ; Jiangsu Institute of Clinical Immunology, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215007, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Medical Biotechnology Institute of Soochow University, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215007, P.R. China ; Jiangsu Stem Cell Key Laboratory, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215007, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Medical Biotechnology Institute of Soochow University, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215007, P.R. China ; Jiangsu Institute of Clinical Immunology, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215007, P.R. China ; Jiangsu Stem Cell Key Laboratory, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215007, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xueguang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: carcinogenesis; colorectal cancer; octamer-binding transcription factor 4; prognosis