Abstract
Keratin 18 (KRT18) has been suggested to be overexpressed in most types of human tumor, but the expression pattern of KRT18 in colorectal cancer (CRC) remained unknown. In our research, KRT18 protein expression was markedly increased in CRC cancer tissues and cell lines compared with adjacent normal colorectal tissues and normal colonic epithelial cell line, respectively. Meanwhile, we observed high KRT18 expression was associated with advanced clinical stage, deep tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, poor differentiation and unfavorable prognosis in CRC patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed high expression of KRT18 was an unfavorable independent predictor for overall survival in CRC patients. The in vitro studies indicated down-regulation of KRT18 expression depressed CRC cell viability, migration and invasion. In conclusion, KRT18 serves as an oncogenic role in CRC progression and may be a therapeutic target for promoting CRC patients’ prognosis.
Highlights
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide accounting for 1800977 newly diagnosed cases and 861663 deaths in 2018 [1]
We first observed the Keratin 18 (KRT18) expression in CRC tissues and normal tissues at The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) databases [13], and found that KRT18 expression was significantly increased in colon cancer tissues and rectal cancer compared with corresponding normal tissues
KRT18 expression is increased in CRC tissues and cell lines
Summary
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide accounting for 1800977 newly diagnosed cases and 861663 deaths in 2018 [1]. Despite the significant improvements in molecular targeting therapy and immunotherapy, the 5-year survival rate for CRC patients with distant metastasis or recurrence remains dissatisfactory [4,5,6,7]. The clinical significance and biological function of KRT18 was seldom reported in CRC. High expression of KRT18 was confirmed in CRC tissues and cell lines in our study, and found to be associated with malignant status in CRC patients. Survival analyses indicated that CRC patients with high KRT18 expression had shorter overall survival
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