Integrin αvβ6 and transcriptional factor Ets-1 act as prognostic indicators in colorectal cancer

Background: Both transcriptional factor Ets-1 and integrin alpha v beta 6 play an important role in the development and progression of cancer. The aim of our study was to investigate the expression of Integrin alpha v beta 6 and Ets-1, two proteins' correlation and their clinical significance in colorectal cancerous tissues. Results: The specimens were arranged into microarray using the immunohistochemistry method to investigate the expression of integrin alpha v beta 6 and transcriptional factor Ets-1 in these tissues. Among the 158 tissue specimens, 36.07% were positive for alpha v beta 6 expression, and 57.59% were positive for Ets-1 expression. There were obvious statistical differences existed regarding differentiation, N stage, M stage and TNM stage between alpha v beta 6 and Ets-1 positively and negatively expressing tumors. The correlation analysis confirmed the expression of alpha v beta 6 and Ets-1 were positively correlated in colorectal cancer. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients who were both alpha v beta 6 and Ets-1 positive relapsed earlier than those who were both alpha v beta 6 and Ets-1 negative; and the former group had much shorter survival time than the latter. And Cox model indicated that alpha v beta 6 and Ets-1 were the independent prognostic factors (RR = 2.175, P = 0.012 and RR = 3.903, P < 0.001). Conclusions: The expression of alpha v beta 6 and Ets-1 were positively correlated, and their expression degrees were associated with the differentiation, N stage, M stage and TNM stage of the tumors. Hence, the combination of alpha v beta 6 and Ets-1 can be used as a prognostic marker in colorectal cancer, especially for the early stage.