Down-regulated GAS1 expression correlates with recurrence in stage II and III colorectal cancer

Abstract

Growth arrest-specific gene 1 had been associated with cell-cycle arrest, proliferation, and apoptosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlations between clinicopathologic factors and survival time and growth arrest-specific gene 1 expression in patients with stage II and III colorectal cancer (CRC). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed in 64 fresh CRC tissues to examine growth arrest-specific gene 1 mRNA expression. Six metastasis-derived and primary-derived cell lines were subjected to quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting for further examination of both mRNA and protein concentrations. Growth arrest-specific gene 1 protein was immunostained in 118 paraffin-embedded specimens. Growth arrest-specific gene 1 expression was down-regulated both in tissues with recurrence and in metastasis-derived cell lines. Expression was unrelated to sex, age, tumor grade, or lymphovascular or perineural invasion. However, it was positively related to disease-free survival time (P < .05). Furthermore, lower growth arrest-specific gene 1 expression indicated a poorer survival rate (P < .05; log-rank test). Multivariate analysis also showed weak growth arrest-specific gene 1 protein expression to be an independent adverse prognosticator (P < .05). Taken together, our results support the idea that growth arrest-specific gene 1 contributes to predicting metastasis or recurrence in stage II and III CRC.