The high expression of FOXE1 in colorectal cancer predicts a promising prognosis: a retrospective study

Purpose Forkhead box (FOX) family proteins regulate transcription and DNA repair and are involved in cell growth, differentiation, embryogenesis, and lifespan. The transcription factor FOXE1 is a member of the FOX family. The relationship between the expression level of FOXE1 and colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis remains controversial. It is vital to verify the relationship between FOXE1 expression and the prognosis of patients with CRC. Methods We constructed a tissue microarray containing 879 primary colorectal cancer tissues and 203 normal mucosa samples. The tumor and normal mucosa tissues were stained with FOXE1 by immunohistochemistry, and the staining results were divided into two groups: high expression group and low expression group. Chi-square test was performed for the classification variable of the difference between FOXE1 expression levels and clinicopathological parameters. The survival curve was calculated according to the Kaplan-Meier method and the logarithmic rank test. The Cox proportional risk regression model was used for multivariate analysis of prognostic factors in patients with CRC.Results The expression level of FOXE1 in colorectal cancer was higher than that in the normal mucosa adjacent to cancer, although the difference was not significant. However, the expression of FOXE1 was correlated with tumor size, T stage, N stage, M stage, and pTNM stage. Univariate and multivariate analyses suggested that FOXE1 could be used as an independent prognostic factor in patients with CRC. Conclusions FOXE1 may be a potential independent prognostic factor for colorectal cancer patients.