In a nutshell
This study evaluated the effect of AT-rich interactive domain 3A (ARID3A) expression on colorectal cancer survival.
Some background
AT-rich interactive domain 3A (ARID3A) is a protein that has recently been identified as an important regulator of cell growth. Recent studies have reported that ARID3A protein levels are markedly increased in colon cancer tissue. However, little is known regarding the role of ARID3A in colorectal cancer progression and its affect on cancer outcomes. This study investigated the clinical significance of ARID3A expression among colorectal cancer patients.
Methods & findings
Tumor samples from 690 colorectal cancer patients at various disease stages were tested for ARID3A expression, and results were analyzed in respect to overall patient survival. Of the 690 samples, 195 tumors were strongly positive for ARID3A, 187 were found to express only small amounts of ARID3A, and 308 were negative for ARID3A.
Negative ARID3A expression was found to correlate with negative prognostic factors such as level of tumor invasion, lymph node involvement and cancer metastasis. Strong ARID3A expression was found to be associated with P53 expression (a protein known to suppress tumor growth). Overall survival of colorectal cancer patients with strong ARID3A expression was significantly longer compared to patients with weak or negative ARID3A expression.
Additional survival analysis separating colon cancer and rectal cancer patients showed that the favorable prognostic effect of ARID3A expression was most significant among colon cancer patients.
The bottom line
This study concluded that strong expression of ARID3A is an independent predictor of good prognosis in colorectal cancer.
Published By :
Annals of Surgical Oncology
Date :
Dec 24, 2013
