Associations between FOXO1 expression in tissue, the pathological characteristics of colorectal cancer, and patient...

The transcription factor Forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) plays key roles in many biological processes, including metabolic regulation and apoptosis. However, any role in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains to be elucidated.

An immunohistochemical tissue microarray was used to measure the expression levels of FOXO1 in cancerous tissues from 76 colorectal cancer patients and 28 paracancerous tissues. The difference in expression in the two tissues was statistically compared, and correlations were sought between FOXO1 concentrations and CRC pathological parameters and prognosis.

FOXO1 positivity was significantly lower in CRC tissues than in paracancerous tissues (59.2% vs 85.7%, P = 0.011). The FOXO1 level of CRC tissues was not significantly correlated with sex, tumour size, pathological or TNM stage, Duke stage for cancer and severity, lymph node metastasis, or vascular invasion. However, low FOXO1 expression predicted poorer differentiation (P = 0.033) and higher nerve invasion (P < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that the 5-year survival rate was significantly higher in patients expressing FOXO1 (75.6%; 34/45) than not (54.8%; 17/31). In the multivariable Cox proportional hazards model analysis, high FOXO1 expression remained independently associated with better overall survival (HR = 0.46, 95% CI 0.25-0.86, P = 0.016).

FOXO1 expression is significantly correlated with the pathological features of CRC and patient prognosis.