Wenqing Cao
New York University School of Medicine, USA
Title: MACC1 and its Clinical Significance as a Biomarker and Therapeutic Target in Colon Cancer
Biography
Biography: Wenqing Cao
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Among the leading causes of cancer-related death, CRC is the third in men and second in women in developed countries, and third in both men and women in developing countries. The five year survival is over 90% in patients with early stages of cancer, 65% in patients with regional lymph node metastasis, but only 10% for patients with distant metastasis. Approximate one third of CRC patients had distant metastasis at the time when cancer was diagnosed.To improve the CRC patient outcome, in past decades, extensive research have suggested promising/potential biomarkers for early diagnosing CRC and predicting its metastasis/prognosis. The metastasis-associated in colon cancer-1 (MACC1) gene was identiï¬ed by a genome-wide search for genes differentially expressed by analyzing normal tissues, primary tumors, and metastatic lesions in CRC. Further studies suggest that MACC1 functions as a transcriptional activator for proto-oncogene MET expression. MACC1 overexpression is associated with crucial steps of transition from adenoma to carcinoma and progression from low stage to high stage CRC.Overexpression of MACC1 in CRC is associated with distant metastasis and poor prognosis. In animal studies, downregulating MACC1 expression inhibit CRC growth and metastasis formation. Here, we discuss MACC1,a recently revealed potential biomarker for CRC diagnosis, prognoses, and a potential therapeutic target for anti-tumor and anti-metastasis intervention strategies.