Clinical and prognostic significance of Arl4c expression in colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND: ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF)-like 4c (Arl4c) has been reported to promote tumorigenesis in colorectal and lung cancers and may represent a novel therapeutic target. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF)-like 4c (Arl4c) in colorectal cancer (CRC) in Chinese populations and an AOM/DSS-induced mouse colorectal carcinogenesis model, and its prognostic value in patients with CRC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Expression of Arl4c in CRC patients and AOM/DSS-induced colorectal tumors was detected using immunohistochemistry and real- Real time PCR. In addition, the correlations between Arl4c expression and clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: The Arl4c was statistically significantly overexpressed in CRC tissues relative to adjacent normal tissue (p= 0.001). CRC patients with high Arl4c expression tended to show poorer survival than patients with lower Arl4c expression (p= 0.069). However, the level of Arl4c expression was not visibly correlated with age, gender or tumor stage. In addition, increased expression of Arl4c was also found in AOM/DSS-induced colorectal tumors (p= 0.001), which indicated that Arl4c might play an important role in colon tumorigenesis. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated that overexpression of Arl4c might contribute to the tumorigenesis and might play a pivotal role in the progression of CRC.