Potential Influences of RNF6 on Prognosis and Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer: A Clinical Analysis

INTRODUCTION: Ring finger protein 6 (RNF6) locates on the chromatin 13q.12.13, where amplification is frequently occurred in colorectal cancer (CRC). Previous studies have reported the role of RNF6 to accelerate the progression and metastasis of CRC. METHODS: In this paper, we mainly analyzed the potential of RNF6 to predict the prognosis and metastasis of CRC. Based on the cut-off value of RNF6, enrolled CRC patients were assigned into high- and low-level group. Correlation between RNF6 level and survival of CRC patients was assessed. RESULTS: Our findings revealed that RNF6 was upregulated in CRC tissues. IHC staining demonstrated higher positive expression of RNF6 in CRC tissues. Nearly 61.2% CRC patients had a positive expression of RNF6. Moreover, RNF6 was closely linked to lymphovascular invasion (LV) (P=0.006), invasion depth (P=0.001), metastasis (P<0.001) and TNM staging (P<0.001). In CRC tissues, RNF6 level was negatively correlated to that of E-cadherin (r=−0.7093, P<0.0001). OS (overall survival) and RFS (recurrence-free survival) were worse in CRC patients with high-level RNF6, and tumor cell metastasis was believed to be the major reason. CONCLUSION: Therefore, RNF6 was confirmed to be a hallmark predicting the prognosis and metastasis in CRC patients.