Upregulated Expression of the Growth Arrest-Specific-2 (GAS2) Gene in Colorectal Cancer, and its Relation to Cancer Progression and Prognosis

Growth arrest-specific 2 (GAS2) gene is implicated in a variety of cellular functions such as cell cycle, apoptosis, and proliferation, and may be potentially involved in cancer progression. However, whether GAS2 is associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) progression and prognosis remains to be uncovered. Thus, this study investigated the association of GAS2 expression in tumor with CRC progression and prognosis. In the case-control study, surgical tumor and adjacent normal tissues from 40 patients with CRC were collected at Cancer Institute of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, Iran, and relative expression level of GAS2 in the tissues was assayed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction method. The correlation of tumor GAS2 expression with the clinicopathological features and overall survival rate of patients was determined. The relative expression level of GAS2 in tumor tissues was significantly elevated compared to the adjacent normal tissues [1.96 (1.17-3.40) vs. 1.10 (1.00-1.31), P < 0.001]. Moreover, the expression levels of GAS2 in tumor tissues were significantly associated with clinicopathological features of cancer including tumor stage in Tumor spread, Lymph node spread, and Metastasis (TNM) staging (P = 0.010), grade (P = 0.010), size (P = 0.030), and lymphatic (P = 0.030) and vascular invasion (P = 0.040) as well as the decreased overall survival (P = 0.040). Elevated expression of GAS2 in CRC is associated with cancer progression indices and poor prognosis; hence it may be served as a prognostic biomarker in CRC.