Role of F-box protein 2, Ki-67 and vascular endothelial growth factor in the prognosis of colorectal cancer

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of FBXO2, Ki-67 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in colorectal cancer (CRC), and their roles in the prognosis of CRC. Methods The expression levels of Ki-67, VEGF and FBXO2 were detected in one hundred and five pairs of primary CRC tissues by using immunohistochemistry (IHC), and their correlations with clinicopathological factors were statistically analyzed. Results The positive rates of Ki-67, VEGF and FBXO2 expression in CRC tissue samples were 53.3% (56/105), 51.4% (54/105), 44.7% (47/105), respectively. The high expression levels of Ki-67 was significantly correlated with tumor size (P=0.017). The high expression level of FBXO2 was significantly correlated with tumor metastasis (P=0.045) and AJCC stage (P=0.027). Pearson’s correlation analysis revealed significant correlation between FBXO2, Ki-67 and VEGF expression (r=0.305, 0.223, P=0.002, 0.022), while Ki-67 displayed no correlation with VEGF (r=0.160, P=0.102). Cox regression analysis revealed that FBXO2 was an independent prognostic factor for CRC patients (HR=2.183, 95%CI=1.075-4.434, P=0.031). Survival analysis showed that the survival time of patients with high expression of Ki-67, VEGF and FBXO2 in CRC tissue was significantly lower than those with low expression (P=0.019, 0.036, <0.001). Conclusion The high expression level of FBXO2 is associated with the proliferative rate of tumor cells and angiogenesis of CRC. Key words: Colorectal neoplasms; F-box proteins; Vascular endothelial growth factors; Ki-67