Increased ATP2A1 Predicts Poor Prognosis in Patients With Colorectal Carcinoma

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the digestive system. Traditional diagnosis and treatment methods have not significantly improved the overall survival of patients. In this study, we explored the value of ATP2A1 as a biomarker in predicting the prognosis of colorectal cancer patients. We used the TCGA database to reveal the relationship between ATP2A1 mRNA level and prognosis, methylation, and immune invasion in colorectal cancer. The results showed that the expression of ATP2A1 was increased in colorectal cancer. The overall survival of patients with high expression of ATP2A1 was significantly lower than patients with low expression of ATP2A1. Cox regression analysis showed that high expression of ATP2A1 was an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in colorectal cancer patients. In addition, we used three datasets to perform a meta-analysis, which further confirmed the reliability of the results. Furthermore, we revealed that ATP2A1 could significantly inhibit the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells by inhibiting the autophagy process and was associated with several immune cells, especially CD8 + T cells. Finally, four small molecule drugs with potential inhibition of ATP2A1 expression were found by CMap analysis. This study demonstrates for the first time that ATP2A1 is a potential pathogenic factor, which may play a significant role in colorectal cancer.