Prognostic value of TIMM50 expression in colorectal cancer

Translocase of the inner mitochondrial membrane 50 (TIMM50) is universally considered to play a key role in several malignancies. However, its role in predicting colorectal cancer (CRC) patient prognosis remains unclear.

A total of 192 CRC patients (123 men and 69 women) who underwent radical resection participated in this study. The patients were followed up every 3 months after surgery for 5 years. TIMM50 expression in tumour tissues was measured by quantitative real-time PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. TIMM50 expression was studied to assess correlations with clinicopathological factors and survival time.

TIMM50 expression increased significantly in CRC tumour tissues. Moreover, high TIMM50 expression was related to pathologic stage (p = 0.043), N stage (p = 0.048) and distant metastasis (p = 0.015), but TIMM50 expression was not related to other clinical factors. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that patients with low TIMM50 expression had a longer overall survival than those with high TIMM50 expression (p = 0.002). Furthermore, distant metastasis and high TIMM50 expression were confirmed as independent prognostic factors for the overall survival of CRC patients in a multivariate analysis (p = 0.003).

TIMM50 may be a key factor for monitoring CRC and a new prognosis indicator for CRC patients.