Overexpression of Anillin (ANLN) is correlated with colorectal cancer progression and poor prognosis

BACKGROUND: Our previous study found ANLN was over-expressed in colorectal cancer(CRC), however the role of ANLN in CRC remained unknown. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship of ANLN expression in CRC with clinical features and to determinate the prognostic significance of ANLN expression in CRC. METHODS: The ANLN expression in CRC tissue and adjacent normal colorectal mucosa were measured, the relationship between ANLN expression and clinical features as well as overall survival were analyzed. RESULTS: ANLN was overexpressed in CRC. ANLN expression was associated with tumor invasion and enlarged tumor size. Furthermore, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that higher expression of ANLN was associated with poorer overall survival. Multi-variate analysis suggested that higher expression of ANLN, preoperative CEA level and distant metastasis were independent prognostic factor in patients with CRC. CONCLUSIONS: ANLN expression is elevated in CRC and has a strong potential to act as a biomarker for the prognosis of CRC.