Abstract
Background: Colorectal cancer is the third commonest cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths globally. The Pre-B-cell leukemia transcription factor (PBX) family plays an essential biological role in the growth and development of the organism. PBX genes have been found to be implicated in the tumorigenesis of a variety of human tumors through multiple pathways, but its function in colorectal cancer is unclear. Methods: The expression pattern, prognostic value and relationship with immune infiltration of PBX genes in patients with colorectal cancer were investigated using the Oncomine, GEPIA, Kaplan-Meier Plotter and TIMER databases. In addition, gene mutation and interaction analysis of PBX family members in colorectal cancer patients using cBioPortal and GeneMANIA databases, respectively.Results: We revealed that a significantly lower expression level of PBX1, PBX2 and PBX3 in colorectal cancer tissues than in normal tissues, and the expression levels of PBX1 and PBX2 were significantly correlated with clinical tumor stage. Furthermore, survival analysis showed that high transcript levels of PBX4 were associated with overall survival in colon cancer patients, while low levels of PBX2 predicted improved disease-free survival in rectal cancer patients. In addition, in colon and rectal cancers, PBX proteins were notably associated with infiltration of multiple immune cells, including CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, B cells, and dendritic cells.Conclusion: These findings implies that PBX1 and PBX3 are potential targets for precision therapy of colorectal cancer patients and that PBX2 and PBX4 may be new prognostic markers for colorectal cancer patients.
Comprehensive Analysis of the Expression, Prognostic Value and Correlations with Immune Infiltration of PBX Family Members in Colorectal Cancer
