Purpose: Eyes absent homologue 2 (EYA2), which functions as a transcription activator and phosphatase, plays an important role in several types of cancer. However, the impact of EYA2 in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains elusive.
Patients and methods: We evaluated the significance of EYA2 expression in the development and progression of CRC in a large cohort, including 922 CRC cases. EYA2 protein expression was determined via immunohistochemistry in colorectal tissues. The correlation between EYA2 expression and CRC occurrence was investigated in tumor tissue and the adjacent normal tissues. Factors contributing to CRC prognosis were evaluated using Kaplan–Meier and Cox model analyses.
Results: EYA2 expression was progressively lower in the adjacent normal tissue, adenomas, primary tumor and the metastatic CRC (all P <0.05). Furthermore, EYA2 expression had significant associations with disease stage, differentiation grade, and number of resected lymph nodes (all P <0.001). Compared with patients with EYA2-high tumors, those with EYA2-low tumors had shorter disease-free survival (hazard ratio [HR], 2.347; 95% CI, 1.665–3.308) and disease-specific survival (HR, 3.560; 95% CI, 2.055–6.167) in multivariate Cox analysis, after adjusting confounding factors such as tumor-node-metastasis stage and grade. In particular, patients with stage II or III EYA2-low CRC might be harmed by postoperative chemotherapy.
Conclusion: EYA2 expression was generally reduced in CRC. Higher EYA2 expression can predict a more favorable prognosis for CRC.
Keywords: colorectal cancer, EYA2, immunohistochemistry, prognosis, chemotherapy