Expression of FOXC1 and lncRNA FOXCUT in colorectal cancer patients and its effect on disease progression

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of forkhead box C1 (FOXC1) and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) FOXC1 promoter upstream transcript (FOXCUT) in the colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and its effects on the disease progression. Methods In this study, the CRC tissues and adjacent tissues were collected from 65 CRC patients in Zhengzhou Central Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University from January 2013 to January 2014. The expression levels of FOXC1 and lncRNA FOXCUT were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction, and their effects on the disease progression were analyzed. Results The expression levels of FOXC1 and lncRNA FOXCUT of the cancer tissues were higher than those in the adjacent tissues (P 0.05), while they were significantly correlated with the tumor diameter, tumor nodes and metastasis (TNM) staging, invasion degree and distant metastasis (P<0.05). Tumor diameter, TNM staging, invasion degree, distant metastasis, FOXC1 expression, and FOXCUT expression were the independent prognostic factors for CRC patients (P<0.05). Conclusions Expression levels of FOXC1 and FOXCUT are closely related to the tumor staging, tumor diameter, metastasis and invasion degree of CRC patients. FOXC1 and FOXCUT may be involved into the occurrence and development of CRC, and they can be used as prognostic factors for CRC patients. Key words: Colorectal neoplasms; Long non-coding RNA forkhead box C1 promoter upstream transcript; Forkhead box C1; Expression; Disease progression