Zinc finger protein 185 is a liver metastasis-associated factor in colon cancer patients

LIM domain proteins are involved in several fundamental biological processes, including cell lineage specification, cytoskeleton organization and organ development. Zinc finger protein 185 (ZNF185) is one of the LIM domain proteins considered to be involved in the regulation of cellular differentiation and/or proliferation. However, the detailed functions and properties of ZNF185 in the multistep process of cancer biology have not yet been elucidated. In this study, we analyzed the association between ZNF185 and the clinicopathological characteristics of colon cancer, such as patient age and gender, histological type, lymphatic and venous involvement, T and N status, liver metastasis and stage. ZNF185 protein expression was immunohistochemically analyzed and ZNF185 was detected in the cancer cells of 78 of the 87 colon cancer patients. The correlation between ZNF185 and histological type was significant (P=0.010, G-test). ZNF185 expression was also significantly correlated with liver metastasis (P=0.030, G-test). A multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model was performed among cause-specific survival rate, ZNF185 expression and clinicopathological characteristics. Histological type, liver metastasis and ZNF185 expression were found to be independent prognostic indicators (P=0.028, P<0.0001 and P=0.036, respectively). Therefore, ZNF185 expression was found to be an independent indicator of liver metastasis and prognosis in patients with colon cancer.