High expression levels of unc‑51-like kinase 1 as a predictor of poor prognosis in colorectal cancer

Zou,Yifeng; Chen,Zexian; He,Xiaowen; He,Xiaosheng; Wu,Xianrui; Chen,Yufeng; Wu,Xiaojian; Wang,Jianping; Lan,Ping

doi:10.3892/ol.2015.3417

High expression levels of unc‑51-like kinase 1 as a predictor of poor prognosis in colorectal cancer

Authors:
- Yifeng Zou
- Zexian Chen
- Xiaowen He
- Xiaosheng He
- Xianrui Wu
- Yufeng Chen
- Xiaojian Wu
- Jianping Wang
- Ping Lan
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Affiliations: Department of Colorectal and Anal Surgery, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat‑sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510655, P.R. China
Published online on: June 24, 2015 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2015.3417
Pages: 1583-1588

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Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common and lethal cancers worldwide. Unc‑51‑like kinase 1 (ULK1) plays an important role in autophagy, which is widely involved in human CRC. The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical and prognostic significance of the expression of ULK1 in human CRC. Expression of ULK1 in 339 CRC specimens (tumor‑node‑metastasis stages I‑IV) was assessed by immunohistochemistry. The optimal cutpoint of the expression of ULK1 was assessed by the X‑tile program, and the patients were divided into 2 groups of high or low expression levels of ULK1, accordingly. Correlation analysis between the expression of ULK1 and the clinicopathological variables in CRC demonstrated that the expression of ULK1 was significantly associated with gender and tumor differentiation. Univariate Cox regression analysis indicated that high expression levels of ULK1 were a risk factor for overall and disease‑free survival. Therefore, the high expression levels of ULK1 may be a useful independent biomarker for predicting a poor prognosis in patients with CRC.

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