DEAD-box RNA helicase protein DDX21 as a prognosis marker for early stage colorectal cancer with microsatellite instability Journal Article


Authors: Tanaka, A.; Wang, J. Y.; Shia, J.; Zhou, Y.; Ogawa, M.; Hendrickson, R. C.; Klimstra, D. S.; Roehrl, M. H.
Article Title: DEAD-box RNA helicase protein DDX21 as a prognosis marker for early stage colorectal cancer with microsatellite instability
Abstract: DEAD-box RNA helicase DDX21 (also named nucleolar RNA helicase 2) is a nuclear autoantigen with undefined roles in cancer. To explore possible roles of autoimmune recognition in cancer immunity, we examined DDX21 protein expression in colorectal cancer tissue and its association with patient clinical outcomes. Unbiased deep proteomic profiling of two independent colorectal cancer cohorts using mass spectrometry showed that DDX21 protein was significantly upregulated in cancer relative to benign mucosa. We then examined DDX21 protein expression in a validation group of 710 patients, 619 of whom with early stage and 91 with late stage colorectal cancers. DDX21 was detected mostly in the tumor cell nuclei, with high expression in some mitotic cells. High levels of DDX21 protein were found in 28% of stage I, 21% of stage II, 30% of stage III, and 32% of stage IV colorectal cancer cases. DDX21 expression levels correlated with non-mucinous histology in early stage cancers but not with other clinicopathological features such as patient gender, age, tumor location, tumor grade, or mismatch repair status in any cancer stage. Kaplan–Meier analyses revealed that high DDX21 protein levels was associated with longer survival in patients with early stage colorectal cancer, especially longer disease-free survival in patients with microsatellite instability (MSI) cancers, but no such correlations were found for the microsatellite stable subtype or late stage colorectal cancer. Univariate and multivariate analyses also identified high DDX21 protein expression as an independent favorable prognostic marker for early stage MSI colorectal cancer. © 2020, The Author(s).
Journal Title: Scientific Reports
Volume: 10
ISSN: 2045-2322
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group  
Date Published: 2020-12-16
Start Page: 22085
Language: English
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79049-9
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC7745018
PUBMED: 33328538
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 4 January 2021 -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. David S Klimstra
    978 Klimstra
  2. Jinru Shia
    720 Shia
  3. Michael H Roehrl
    127 Roehrl
  4. Atsushi Tanaka
    35 Tanaka
  5. Yihua Zhou
    13 Zhou
  6. Makiko Ogawa
    26 Ogawa