Over expression of METRN predicts poor clinical prognosis in colorectal cancer

The role of meteorin (METRN) in colorectal cancer has not been reported previously. We aimed to explore the relationship between METRN and colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis.

Data were retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Gene expression values were log2 transformed and normalized by quantile normalization. Missing values were imputed with the R impute package. Differentially expressed genes were analyzed using the R limma package. METRN expression was compared between normal and CRC tissues and among different stages and subtypes of CRC. We assessed the relationship between METRN and KRAS/BRAF mutations in CRC. Five-year overall (OS), disease-free (DFS), and disease-specific survival (DSS) rates were determined by Kaplan-Meier analysis and analyzed by log-rank test.

METRN was expressed at a higher level in CRC (p = .0011) than in normal tissues, especially in advanced stages (p = .0343). METRN expression levels were higher in the MSI (dMMR) subtype (p < .001) and usually with BRAF mutations (p < .0001). METRN overexpression was associated with poor prognosis and low OS (p = .01014), DFS (p = .0146), and DSS (p < .0001) rates.

METRN overexpression is a predictive factor for poor prognosis in patients with CRC.