BACKGROUND SPINK4 is known as a gastrointestinal peptide in the gastrointestinal tract and is abundantly expressed in human goblet cells. The clinical significance of SPINK4 in colorectal cancer (CRC) is largely unknown. METHODS We retrieved the expression data of 1168 CRC patients from 3 Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets (GSE24551, GSE39582, GSE32323) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to compare the expression level of SPINK4 between CRC tissues and normal colorectal tissues and to evaluate its value in predicting the survival of CRC patients. At the protein level, these results were further confirmed by data mining in the Human Protein Atlas and by immunohistochemical staining of samples from 81 CRC cases in our own center. RESULTS SPINK4 expression was downregulated in CRC compared with that in normal tissues, and decreased SPINK4 expression at both the mRNA and protein levels was associated with poor prognosis in CRC patients from all 3 GEO datasets, the TCGA database and our cohort. Additionally, lower SPINK4 expression was significantly related to higher TNM stage. Moreover, in multivariate regression, SPINK4 was confirmed as an independent indicator of poor survival in CRC patients in all databases and in our own cohort. CONCLUSIONS We concluded that reduced expression of SPINK4 relates to poor survival in CRC, functioning as a novel indicator.

中文翻译：

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SPINK4的下调与大肠癌生存不良有关。

背景技术SPINK4在胃肠道中被称为胃肠道肽，并且在人杯状细胞中大量表达。SPINK4在结直肠癌（CRC）中的临床意义尚不清楚。方法我们从3个基因表达综合（GEO）数据集（GSE24551，GSE39582，GSE32323）和癌症基因组图谱（TCGA）中检索了1168名CRC患者的表达数据，以比较SPI组织和正常结直肠组织之间SPINK4的表达水平。评估其在预测CRC患者生存中的价值。在蛋白质水平上，这些结果通过人类蛋白质图谱中的数据挖掘以及我们自己中心的81例CRC病例的样品的免疫组织化学染色进一步得到证实。结果与正常组织相比，CRCNK中的SPINK4表达下调，在所有3个GEO数据集，TCGA数据库和我们的队列研究中，CRC患者的SPINK4表达在mRNA和蛋白水平上的降低以及与预后不良相关。此外，较低的SPINK4表达与较高的TNM分期显着相关。此外，在多变量回归中，在所有数据库和我们自己的队列中，证实SPINK4是CRC患者生存不良的独立指标。结论我们得出结论，SPINK4的表达降低与CRC的不良生存有关，可作为一种新的指标。在所有数据库和我们自己的队列中，SPINK4均被证实为CRC患者生存不良的独立指标。结论我们得出结论，SPINK4的表达降低与CRC的不良生存有关，可作为一种新的指标。在所有数据库和我们自己的队列中，SPINK4均被证实为CRC患者生存不良的独立指标。结论我们得出结论，SPINK4的表达降低与CRC的不良生存有关，可作为一种新的指标。