Twist2 is a valuable prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer

Table 1 Relationship between Twist2 expression and clinicopathological characteristics n (%)

Characteristics	Total	Twist2 expression		P value
		Negative	Positive
Gender
Female	52 (55.9)	18 (66.7)	34 (51.5)	0.1821
Male	41 (44.1)	9 (33.3)	32 (48.5)
Age
< 59	41 (44.1)	13 (48.1)	28 (42.4)	0.6141
≥ 59	52 (55.9)	14 (51.9)	38 (57.6)
T-stage
T1-2	17 (18.3)	5 (18.5)	12 (18.2)	1.0002
T3-4	76 (81.7)	22 (81.5)	54 (81.8)
N-stage
N0	52 (55.9)	17 (63.0)	35 (53.0)	0.3811
N1-2	41 (44.1)	10 (37.0)	31 (47.0)
M-stage
M0	52 (55.9)	17 (63.0)	35 (53.0)	0.3811
M1	41 (44.1)	10 (37.0)	31 (47.0)
Tumor differentiation
Moderate/good	83 (89.2)	26 (96.3)	57 (86.4)	0.2712
Poor	10 (10.8)	1 (3.7)	9 (13.6)
Vascular invasion
No	56 (60.2)	17 (63.0)	39 (59.1)	0.7291
Yes	37 (39.8)	10 (37.0)	27 (40.9)
Tumor location
Rectum	19 (20.4)	4 (14.8)	15 (22.7)	0.3901
Colon	74 (79.6)	23 (85.2)	51 (77.3)
CEA level (ng/mL)
≤ 5	48 (51.6)	12 (4.4)	36 (54.5)	0.3761
> 5	45 (48.4)	15 (55.6)	30 (45.5)

¹Pearson’s χ² test;

²Fisher’s exact test. T-, N-, M-stage are tumor, node, and metastasis stage (6^th edition), performed according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer; CEA: Serum carcinoembryonic antigen.

Table 2 Relationship between Twist2 and E-cadherin expression n (%)

Twist2 expression	E-cadherin expression		P value
	Preserved (n = 50)	Reduced (n = 43)
Positive (n = 66)	31 (47.0)	35 (53.0)	0.040
Negative (n = 27)	19 (70.4)	8 (29.6)

Table 3 Univariate and multivariate analysis of the prognostic factors for overall survival

Prognostic factors	Univariate analysis			Multivariate analysis
	HR	95%CI	P value	HR	95%CI	P value
Gender
Female	1
Male	1.011	0.490-2.085	0.977	NA	NA	NA
Age
< 59	1
≥ 59	1.579	0.750-3.326	0.229	NA	NA	NA
T-stage
T1-2	1
T3-4	1.118	0.493-2.534	0.789	NA	NA	NA
N-stage
N0	1
N1-2	2.172	1.056-4.468	0.035	NS	NS	NS
M-stage
M0	1			1
M1	6.324	2.659-15.041	< 0.001	7.694	2.927-20.224	< 0.001
Tumor differentiation
Moderate/good	1
Poor	1.290	0.491-3.384	0.229	NA	NA	NA
Vascular invasion
No	1
Yes	3.398	1.601-7.211	0.001	NS	NS	NS
Tumor location
Rectum	1
Colon	1.188	0.517-2.729	0.685	NA	NA	NA
CEA level (ng/mL)
≤ 5	1
> 5	3.173	1.475-6.827	0.003	NS	NS	NS
Twist2 expression
Negative	1			1
Positive	4.964	1.181-20.863	0.029	5.744	1.347-24.298	0.018

Multivariate analysis included adjustment for N-stage, M-stage, vascular invasion, serum carcinoembryonic antigen level and Twist2 expression. T: Tumor; N: Node; M: Metastasis; HR: Hazard ratio; NA: Not available; NS: Not significant.

Table 4 Univariate and multivariate analysis of the prognostic factors for disease-free survival

Prognostic factors	Univariate analysis			Multivariate analysis
	HR	95%CI	P value	HR	95%CI	P value
Gender
Female	1
Male	1.001	0.587-1.706	0.998	NA	NA	NA
Age
< 59	1
≥ 59	1.060	0.621-1.809	0.831	NA	NA	NA
T-stage
T1-2	1
T3-4	1.258	0.833-1.899	0.276	NA	NA	NA
N-stage
N0	1			1
N1-2	2.511	1.468-4.295	0.001	2.149	1.226-3.767	0.008
M-stage
M0	1			1
M1	11.737	5.442-25.313	< 0.001	10.907	4.937-24.096	< 0.001
Tumor differentiation
Moderate/good	1
Poor	1.140	0.537-2.418	0.733	NA	NA	NA
Vascular invasion
No	1
Yes	3.246	1.874-5.625	< 0.001	NS	NS	NS
Tumor location
Rectum	1
Colon	1.557	0.810-2.992	0.184	NA	NA	NA
CEA level (ng/mL)
≤ 5	1
> 5	2.958	1.692-5.172	< 0.001	NS	NS	NS
Twist2 expression
Negative	1			1
Positive	2.632	1.184-5.809	0.017	3.264	1.455-7.375	0.004

Multivariate analysis included adjustment for N-stage, M-stage, vascular invasion, serum carcinoembryonic antigen level and Twist2 expression. T: Tumor; N: Node; M: Metastasis; HR: Hazard ratio; NA: Not available; NS: Not significant.