Expression of transcription factor Pokemon in colorectal cancer and its clinical significance

AIM:To investigate the expression and significance of Pokemon(POK erythroid myeloid ontogenic) proto-oncogene in colorectal cancer.METHODS:The expression of Pokemon in the tumor tissues,corresponding tumor adjacent tissues and the surrounding tissues collected from 47 operation-treated cases of colorectal cancers was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR),and the clinical and histopathologic records were retrospectively analyzed.The expression of Pokemon protein was detected by immunohistochemical(IHC) techniques in 53 cases of colorectal cancer to explore its relation with the survival time of the patients.RESULTS:The expression of Pokemon mRNA in colorectal tumor and corresponding tumor adjacent tissues,with no significant difference between them(P=0.054),was markedly higher than that in the surrounding tissues(P0.05).It was correlated with Dukes staging,tumor differentiation degree and lymph node metastasis condition(P0.05),but was not associated with the patients' gender,age,smoking and drinking,and tumor position,size and infiltration depth(P0.05).The survival rate of patients with negative Pokemon expression was significantly higher than that of patients with positive Pokemon expression(P=0.035).CONCLUSION:Pokemon is over-expressed in colorectal cancer,which may have some clinical significance in prognostic evaluation and offer an effective new target for treatment of colorectal cancers.