Decreased Expression Of Uroplakin Ia Is Associated With Colorectal Cancer Progression And Poor Survival Of Patients

Aim: The present study was to investigate the clinical significance of Uroplakins Ia (UPKIa) in the development of colorectal cancer. Methods: mRNA levels of UPKIa in paired colorectal cancer lesions and the adjacent noncancerous tissues were examined using real-time PCR. The expression and prognostic value of UPKIa were examined in 125 colorectal cancer patients after resection. Statistical analyses were applied to derive prognostic associations. Results: UPKIa mRNA level was down-regulated in colorectal cancer lesions compared with that in the paired adjacent noncancerous tissues. Reduced expression of UPKIa was significantly associated with clinical staging (P = 0.038), and tumor size (P = 0.035) of the disease. Moreover, low expression of UPKIa was significantly associated with poorer overall (OS) and recurrent free (RFS) survival (P = 0.017 and P = 0.007, respectively) of colorectal cancer patients. Multivariate analysis suggested that reduced expression of UPK1a was an independent prognostic marker of colorectal cancer (P = 0.047). Conclusions: Low expression of UPKIa was a promising predictor for poor outcome of colorectal cancer patients. Further studies on the potential use of UPKIa as a therapeutic targetis are still needed.