Abstract:

Objective To detect the expression of transcription factor E2F-4 in middle or lower rectal cancer, and investigate its relationship with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis. Methods Sixty specimens of middle or lower rectal cancer were collected with complete clinical and pathological data, and all the patients were performed radical resection of rectal cancer. Besides, rectal mucosa of 30 patients with chronic colitis examined by enteroscopic biopsy were served as controls. The expression of E2F-4 of rectal cancer tissues, adjacent noncancerous tissues and control rectal mucosa was detected by immunohistochemical method, and its relationship with prognosis and clinicopathological parameters such as gender, age, tumor size, tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, TNM staging, post-operative metastasis and recurrence was explored. Results The expression of E2F-4 in rectal cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent noncancerous tissues and control rectal mucosa (P<0.05). The expression of E2F-4 in rectal cancer tissues was significantly related to tumor differentiation, TNM staging, lymph node metastasis and post-operative metastasis and recurrence. The post-operative tumor-free survival time in patients with negative expression of E2F-4 in rectal cancer tissues was significantly longer than that in patients with positive expression of E2F-4 in rectal cancer tissues (P<0.05). Conclusion The expression of transcription factor E2F-4 is closely related to the biological behavior of rectal cancer, and E2F-4 may be involved in the carcinogenesis and development of middle or lower rectal cancer as oncogene.

Key words: transcription, E2F-4, rectal cancer