High NUSAP1 expression predicts poor prognosis in colon cancer

• Published in: Pathology, research and practice Vol. 214; no. 7; pp. 968 - 973
• Main Authors: Liu, Zhaoxiu, Guan, Chengqi, Lu, Cuihua, Liu, Yanmei, Ni, Runzhou, Xiao, Mingbing, Bian, Zhaolian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Elsevier GmbH 01.07.2018
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biomarkers, Tumor - analysis; Colon cancer; Colonic Neoplasms - genetics; Colonic Neoplasms - metabolism; Colonic Neoplasms - mortality; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Lymphatic Metastasis - pathology; Male; Microtubule-Associated Proteins - genetics; Microtubule-Associated Proteins - metabolism; Middle Aged; Nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1; Prognosis; Proportional Hazards Models; Survival Rate; RB1; Immunohistochemistry; MPE; Prognosis; OS; CI; HR; DFS; FAM101B; TNM; Colon cancer; CRC; AJCC; E2F1; NUSAP1; TGF-β1; PCR; Nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1
• ISSN: 0344-0338; 1618-0631
• DOI: 10.1016/j.prp.2018.05.017

Nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) is an indispensable mitotic regulator. Aberrant NUSAP1 expression is associated with perturbed mitosis and tumorigenesis. In this study, we investigated the clinical significance of NUSAP1 expression in colon cancer. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to determine NUSAP1 protein levels in paraffin colon tumor specimens. Real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was conducted to detect NUSAP1 mRNA levels in colon tumor samples. The association between NUSAP1 protein expression and clinicopathological characteristics of patients with colon cancer was assessed. A Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to determine the prognostic significance of NUSAP1 in colon cancer. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate univariate and multivariate hazard ratios for the NUSAP1 and other clinicopathological variables. NUSAP1 protein and mRNA levels were significantly higher in colon tumor tissues than in paired non-cancerous adjacent tissues (P < 0.001, respectively). NUSAP1 protein expression was significantly correlated with histopathological grading (P < 0.001), depth of invasion (P = 0.001), lymph node metastasis (P < 0.001) and TNM stage (P < 0.001). The overall survival rate of patients with high NUSAP1 expression was significantly lower than for patients with low NUSAP1 expression (log-rank test, P < 0.001). A multivariate Cox model demonstrated that NUSAP1 is an independent risk factor for overall survival (P = 0.025). NUSAP1 is overexpressed in colon cancer and high expression of NUSAP1 acts as an independent predictive factor for poor prognosis in colon cancer.