LncRNA KLK8 modulates stem cell characteristics in colon cancer

Background: Colon cancer, one of the most common and aggressive human malignancies, is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Despite advances in systemic therapy, the 5-year survival rate of colon cancer patients remains at 30 % due to recurrence and metastasis. The poor prognosis is related to the presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs), and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a significant role in CSCs. Thus, understanding of the correlation between CSCs and lncRNA in colon cancer is of it is of great clinical significance. Method: The expression of KLK8 expression in colon cancer tissues was determined by qRT-PCR. Colon cancerderived CSCs could form sphere-like cell aggregates after 10 days of culturing in a serum-free medium. In addition, qRT-PCR and Western blotting were performed to assess the expression of CD44, Sox2, Oct4, and Nanog. Results: KLK8 was markedly upregulated in colon cancer tissues in comparison with normal tissues, and its expression was related to tumor size, TNM stage, and metastasis, and positively correlated with the expression of CSCs-related genes in colon cancer tissues. Conclusions: Thus, KLK8 may serve as a potential prognostic and diagnostic biomarker in colon cancer patients.