Over expression of METRN predicts poor clinical prognosis in colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND: The role of meteorin (METRN) in colorectal cancer has not been reported previously. We aimed to explore the relationship between METRN and colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis. METHODS: Data were retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Gene expression values were log2 transformed and normalized by quantile normalization. Missing values were imputed with the R impute package. Differentially expressed genes were analyzed using the R limma package. METRN expression was compared between normal and CRC tissues and among different stages and subtypes of CRC. We assessed the relationship between METRN and KRAS/BRAF mutations in CRC. Five‐year overall (OS), disease‐free (DFS), and disease‐specific survival (DSS) rates were determined by Kaplan–Meier analysis and analyzed by log‐rank test. RESULTS: METRN was expressed at a higher level in CRC (p = .0011) than in normal tissues, especially in advanced stages (p = .0343). METRN expression levels were higher in the MSI (dMMR) subtype (p < .001) and usually with BRAF mutations (p < .0001). METRN overexpression was associated with poor prognosis and low OS (p = .01014), DFS (p = .0146), and DSS (p < .0001) rates. CONCLUSION: METRN overexpression is a predictive factor for poor prognosis in patients with CRC.