TMEM16A overexpression indicates poor prognosis in colorectal cancer patients.

Aim: to investigate the relationship between TMEM16A and the clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods: ninety-six patients with CRC confirmed by pathology after undergoing surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University between June 2009 and December 2011 were enrolled and followed up. The expression of the TMEM16A protein in CRC was detected by immunohistochemistry in 96 cases. The relationship between the expression of the TMEM16A protein in CRC and the clinical features and clinical prognosis were analyzed.

Results: there was no correlation between the TMEM16A protein expression and gender, age, tumor location, size and degree of differentiation (p > 0.05). However, the expression of the TMEM16A protein was significantly associated with the depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis and Dukes stage (p < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that CRC patients with high expression of the TMEM16A protein had a poorer overall survival compared with those with low expression levels (68.2 % vs 92.3 %, X2 = 9.892, p = 0.002). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that upregulation of the TMEM16A protein expression is an independent predictive factor for poor prognosis in patients with CRC (p < 0.05, RR = 6.467, 95 % CI: 1.777-23.538).

Conclusions: the expression of the TMEM16A protein in CRC was associated with tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis and Dukes stage. High expression of the TMEM16A protein in CRC can be used as an independent predictive factor for a poor prognosis of patients with CRC.