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Updated: May 28, 2026

Generating the Transcriptional Regulation View of Transcriptomic Features for Prediction Task and Dark Biomarker Detection on Small Datasets
Published on: March 1, 2024
Expression and prognostic value of transcription factor PROX1 in colorectal cancer
1Department of Oncology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki FIN-00029 HUS, Finland.
Background:
PROX1 is a specific target of the β-catenin/TCF pathway in the intestinal epithelium. It acts as a regulator of progression from a benign to a highly dysplastic phenotype in colorectal tumours. However, the clinical significance of PROX1 expression is not known.
Methods:
We studied the prognostic value of immunohistochemical expression of PROX1 in a series of 517 patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).
Results:
The majority of the tumour samples expressed PROX1 (91%, 471 out of 517). High PROX1 expression was associated with a poor grade of tumour differentiation (P<0.0001). In the subgroup of patients with colon cancer, high PROX1 expression was associated with unfavourable colorectal cancer-specific survival (CCSS) as compared with low PROX1 expression (CCSS 47% vs 62%; P=0.045; RR 1.47). The association between high PROX1 and poor outcome was further strengthened in female colon cancer patients (CCSS 38% vs 63%; P=0.007; RR 2.02). Nonetheless, in multivariate survival analysis PROX1 expression was not retained as an independent prognostic factor.
Conclusion:
High PROX1 expression is associated with a poor grade of tumour differentiation, and, in colon cancer patients, also with less favourable patient outcome. Our results strengthen the previous preclinical observations that PROX1 has a role in tumour progression in CRC.
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