Elevated expression of MGb2-Ag/TRAK1 is correlated with poor prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer.

Purpose: MGb2, a mouse-derived monoclonal antibody specific to gastric carcinoma, was developed in our laboratory. Nevertheless, the potential role of MGb2-antigen/TRAK1 (MGb2-Ag/TRAK1) in colorectal cancer (CRC) is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between MGb2-Ag/TRAK1 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics of CRC. The potential utility of MGb2-Ag/TRAK1 expression as a prognostic indicator was also evaluated.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry and western blot were used to detect MGb2-Ag/TRAK1 expression in 140 CRC tissues. The relationship between MGb2-Ag/TRAK1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics and postoperative survival time was statistically analyzed.

Results: MGb2-Ag/TRAK1 expression in CRC tissues was significantly higher than in normal tissues and was positively correlated with tumor differentiation (p = 0.006), invasion (p = 0.049), and pathological stage (p = 0.032). There was no significant difference between MGb2-Ag/TRAK1 expression and the age or gender of the patient, lymphatic invasion, or distant metastasis (p = 0.586, 0.308, 0.910, and 0.068, respectively). The survival time of CRC patients with high expression of MGb2-Ag/TRAK1 was shorter than the survival time of patients with low MGb2-Ag/TRAK1 expression. Both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that tumor differentiation and MGb2-Ag/TRAK1 expression were two independent and prognostic factors for CRC (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: MGb2-Ag/TRAK1 may play an important role in the development of CRC and may be a valuable prognostic indicator of CRC.