High expression of homeobox B2 predicts poor survival of colon adenocarcinoma by enhancing tumor proliferation and invasion.

Abstract

Homeobox B2 (HOXB2) is known to be correlated with the development and prognosis of various cancers. However, its role in colon cancer remains unclear. In this study, we explored the prognostic value of HOXB2 in colon adenocarcinoma (COAD). A total of 264 colon adenocarcinoma cases were retrospectively enrolled to evaluate HOXB2 expression and clinical significance. Chi-square test was applied to identify relationship between clinical features and HOXB2 expression. The effect of HOXB2 expression and clinical features on the survival of COAD patients was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. Cellular assays and mice models were conducted to validate the tumor-related role of HOXB2 in COAD. Higher expression of HOXB2 in COAD tissues was significantly associated with tumor size, invasion depth, and lymph node metastasis (all P < 0.05). Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that high expression of HOXB2 was significantly correlated with a poor overall survival. In vitro cellular assays combined with knockdown strategies demonstrated that HOXB2 can promote tumor proliferation and invasion of COAD, which was further confirmed by in vivo xenograft experiments. HOXB2 may be a valuable biomarker and potential therapeutic target for the treatment of COAD.