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High Ran level is correlated with poor prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer

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International Journal of Clinical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

The Ras-like nuclear protein (Ran) is involved in the regulation of nuclear transport, microtubule nucleation and dynamics, and spindle assembly. Its fundamental function is nucleocytoplasmic transport of RNA and proteins. The expression and potential role of Ran in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Ran expression and CRC characteristics. The potential role of Ran as a prognostic indicator was also evaluated.

Methods

We used immunohistochemistry and western blotting to detect Ran expression in 287 CRC tissues. The relationships between Ran expression and clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival rate were statistically analyzed.

Results

CRC tissues had significantly higher Ran expression than normal colorectal epithelial cells. Ran was positively correlated with depth of invasion, lymph node metastases, distant metastases, tumor differentiation, and tumor–node–metastasis stage. However, no correlation was found between Ran expression and patient age or sex. The overall survival rate was consistently and significantly lower in patients with Ran-positive tumors than in those with Ran-negative tumors.

Conclusion

Our findings emphasize the important role of Ran in differentiation, disease stage, and metastasis in human CRC. Ran may play an important role in the development of CRC and may serve as a novel prognostic indicator of CRC.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30973410 and No. 30971337). We are grateful to Dr. Qingchuan Zhao and Dr. Qiong Wu for their advice on our studies.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, 127 West Changle Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710032, China

    Hongwei Fan, Yuanyuan Lu, Yong Gu, Jinfeng Zhou, Xin Wang & Daiming Fan

  2. Department of Colorectal Surgery, Tianjin Union Medicine Centre, Hongqiao District, Tianjin, 300121, China

    Hai Qin & Yi Zhou

Authors
  1. Hongwei Fan
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  2. Yuanyuan Lu
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  3. Hai Qin
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  4. Yi Zhou
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  5. Yong Gu
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  6. Jinfeng Zhou
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  7. Xin Wang
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  8. Daiming Fan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xin Wang.

Additional information

H. Fan, Y. Lu and H. Qin contributed equally to this work.

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Cite this article

Fan, H., Lu, Y., Qin, H. et al. High Ran level is correlated with poor prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer. Int J Clin Oncol 18, 856–863 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-012-0465-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-012-0465-x

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