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Research Article

HOXC6 in the prognosis of prostate cancer

, , , &
Pages 2715-2720 | Received 10 Apr 2019, Accepted 14 Jun 2019, Published online: 04 Jul 2019
 

Abstract

Aims

Our study aimed to investigate the expression and prognostic role of homeobox C6 (HOXC6) in prostate cancer (PCa).

Methods

Relative expression of HOXC6 at mRNA and protein levels in tissues and cell lines of PCa were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot analysis, respectively. Association between HOXC6 expression and clinical factors was analyzed by Chi-square test. HOXC6 effects on the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of PCa cells were severally examined through CCK-8 and transwell assays.

Results

Relative expressions of HOXC6 at mRNA and protein levels were obviously higher in both PCa tissues and cells than in adjacent non-cancerous tissues and normal human prostate epithelial cells (p < .05). Chi-square test demonstrated that high expression of HOXC6 was significantly associated with PSA concentration, Gleason score and TNM stage (p < .05). The down-regulation of HOCX6 remarkably inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of PCa cells. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with high HOXC6 expression had shorter overall survival than those with low HOXC6 expression (log rank test, p < .001).

Conclusion

Up-regulated HOXC6, in PCa patients, could not only participate in the progression of PCa but also function as an independent prognostic marker for the cancer.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.