High expression of ZNF692 impairs overall survival in patients with colorectal cancer-analysis of immunohistochemical staining and bioinformatics data

Abstract Zinc finger protein 692 (ZNF692) promotes tumor progression as a potential oncogene, but its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) is not fully understood. We therefore carried out the present study to explore the correlation between ZNF692 expression and the progression of CRC. In this study, Tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining was applied to detect the expression of ZNF692 protein in formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues. The colorectal cancer data in TCGA database is analyzed and verified using R language. Our results showed that ZNF692 expression in CRC tissues was significantly upregulated compared with the matched normal tissues. (p < 0.05). Among 248 colorectal cancer tissues, 126 had high expression of ZNF692. In addition, there was a significant association between ZNF692 expression and age, M stage and histologic grade between the two groups, but not other clinical characteristics. Multivariate analysis showed that high expression of ZNF692 was an independent predictor of prognosis in colorectal cancer patients. The results of bioinformatics analysis also confirmed that the expression level of ZNF692 affects the prognosis of patients with CRC. In conclusion, our results suggest that the high expression of ZNF692 is associated with the poor prognosis and could be a novel biomarkers in colorectal cancer patients.