Expression of transcription factor SOX12 in lung adenocarcinoma and its clinical significance

Abstract

To explore the expression patterns of transcription factor SOX12 in lung adenocarcinoma and its significance in the diagnosis and prognosis of the malignancy. Large cancer genome databases were used to analyze SOX12 expression level in lung adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and semiquantitative PCR were used to detect the expression of SOX12 in 36 specimens of lung adenocarcinoma tissues, 15 adjacent tissues and 21 normal lung tissues. The prognostic value of SOX12 in lung adenocarcinoma and lung squamous cell carcinoma were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier Plotter database, and the relationship between SOX12 expression and the overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PPS) of the patients were analyzed. Analysis of TCGA database and GEO (GSE40419) database showed that SOX12 expression levels were significantly higher in in lung adenocarcinoma than in normal lung tissues (P < 0.001). The results of IHC and semiquantitative PCR revealed that SOX12 was expressed at significantly higher levels in lung adenocarcinoma than in normal lung tissues (P < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with lung adenocarcinoma positive for SOX12 had a significantly shorter OS and PPS time than those negative for SOX12 (P < 0.05), but SOX12 positivity did not significantly affect OS and PPS of patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma. High expression levels of SOX12 in lung adenocarcinoma are significantly associated with a poor OS of the patients, suggesting the value of SOX12 to assist in early diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of lung adenocarcinoma.