TMEM16A overexpression indicates poor prognosis in colorectal cancer patients

Aim:To investigate the relationship between TMEM16A and the clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).Methods: 96 patients with CRC that were confirmed by pathology after being operated on at the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University between June 2009 and December 2011 were enrolled and followed up upon.The expression of TMEM16A protein in CRC was detected by immunohistochemistry in 96 cases.The relationship between the expression of TMEM16A protein in CRC and the clinical features and clinical prognosis were analyzed.Results: 1.There was no correlation between the TMEM16A protein expression and gender, age, or tumor location, size, and degree of differentiation (P>0.05).However, the expression of TMEM16A protein was significantly associated with the depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, and the Dukes stage (P＜0.05).2. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that CRC patients with high expressions of TMEM16A protein had poorer overall survival compared with those having low expression levels (68.2% vs. 92.3%,X 2 =9.892,P = 0.002).Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that upregulation of TMEM16A protein expression is an independent predictive factor for poor prognosis in patients with CRC (P<0.05,RR=6.467, 95% CI: 1.777-23.538). Conclusions:The expression of TMEM16A protein in CRC was associated with tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, and the Dukes stage.High expression of TMEM16A protein in CRC can be identified as an independent predictive factor for the poor prognosis of patients with CRC.