Study on the expression of P38-MAPK and CDX2 in colorectal cancer

Abstract

Objective To investigate the relationship between P38-MAPK and CDX2 expression and to explore the correlation between expression of CDX2 and the survival of colorectal cancer patients. Methods From January 2008 to January 2010, a total of 74 colorectal cancer patients were included and tumor tissues and their adjacent normal tissues were collected. qRT-PCR, Western blot, immunohistochemical staining were applied to detect the expression of P38-MAPK and CDX2. Furthermore, the postoperative survival of the tumor patients was also studied. Results The expression of P38-MAPK and CDX2 of tumor tissues was lower than that of the adjacent normal tissues. P38-MAPK expression was positively associated with CDX2 expression (r=0.4656, P<0.05). CDX2 correlated with the postoperative survival of the tumor patients (r=0.5148, P<0.05). The postoperative survival of high CDX2 patients was longer than that of low CDX2 patients. Conclusion The decreased expression of P38-MAPK results in decreased expression of CDX2 and thus, the CDX2 expression could be used to predict the postoperative survival of colorectal cancer patients and might be a novel antitumor therapeutic target. Key words: Colorectal cancer; CDX2; P38-MAPK; Prognosis