Increased expression of SOX4 is a biomarker for malignant status and poor prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to analyze the expression of sex-determining region Y-related high mobility group box 4 (SOX4) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its correlation with clinicopathologic characteristics, including the survival of NSCLC patients. To observe initially the expression status of SOX4 in lung squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma at gene expression omnibus. The expression of SOX4 mRNA and protein was examined in NSCLC tissues and normal lung tissues through real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry. Meanwhile, the relationship of SOX4 expression levels with clinical characteristics of 168 NSCLC patients was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the association between SOX4 expression and prognosis of NSCLC patients. In our results, SOX4 expression was increased in NSCLC tissues compared with paired normal lung tissues in microarray data (GSE3268). SOX4 mRNA and protein expression were markedly higher in NSCLC tissues than in normal lung tissues (P = 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively). Using immunohistochemistry, high levels of SOX4 protein were positively correlated with status of differentiated degree (high vs. middle, P = 0.004; high vs. low, P < 0.001), clinical stage (I-II vs. III-IV, P < 0.001), T classification (T1-T2 vs. T3-T4, P = 0.004), N classification (N0-N1 vs. N2-N3, P = 0.002), and M classification (M0 vs. M1, P = 0.011) in NSCLC. Moreover, the higher level of SOX4 expression was markedly correlated with poor overall survival in NSCLC patients (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis suggested that increased SOX4 expression was a poor independent prognostic predictor for NSCLC patients (P = 0.002). In conclusion, SOX4 plays an important role on NSCLC progression and prognosis and may serve as a convictive prognostic biomarker for NSCLC patients.

miR‑30a‑5p inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion of melanoma cells by targeting SOX4

“…Abnormal overexpression of SOX4 has been observed in various human cancers, including prostate cancer (32), breast cancer (33) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (34). Additionally, Wang et al (35) reported that increased expression of SOX4 is a biomarker for malignant status and poor prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Hur et al (36) showed that SOX4 overexpression regulates the p53-mediated apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.…”

SOX4 is overexpressed in diffusely infiltrating astrocytoma and confers poor prognosis

“…Recently, SOX4 has been observed to be overexpressed in a variety of cancers, such as breast cancer, non‐small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, bladder carcinoma and prostate adenocarcinoma, although decreased expression has been occasionally reported (such as in melanoma and gallbladder cancer) . SOX4 overexpression is associated with advanced stage in breast cancer, poor prognosis in prostate adenocarcinoma and non‐small cell lung cancer, and tumor progression in hepatocellular carcinoma …”

MicroRNA‑539 inhibits colorectal cancer progression by directly targeting SOX4

“…SOX4 is overexpressed in multiple types of human cancer, including gastric cancer (43), hepatocellular carcinoma (44), prostate cancer (45), osteosarcoma (46) and non-small cell lung cancer (47). Furthermore, multiple studies have demonstrated that SOX4 serves an oncogenic function in tumorigenesis and tumor development.…”