High Vimentin Expression Predicts a Poor Prognosis and Progression in Colorectal Cancer: A Study with Meta-Analysis and TCGA Database

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of vimentin expression in the prognosis and progression of CRC. Meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the correlations between vimentin and prognosis and clinicopathological features in CRC. Literatures were searched by PubMed, Embase, ClinicalKey, CNKI, VIP, and WanFang databases. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used to assess the association of vimentin expression with survival rate in CRC. Eleven reports with 1969 cases were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that positive vimentin expression predicted a poor overall survival (OS) in the univariate analysis (HR: 2.087, 95% CI: 1.660-2.625) and multivariate analysis (HR: 1.633, 95% CI: 1.223-2.181). Vimentin overexpression also conferred worse disease-free survival (DFS) in the univariate analysis (HR: 2.069, 95% CI: 1.024-4.179) and multivariate analysis (HR: 2.802, 95% CI: 1.421-5.527). Moreover, upregulated vimentin is related to lymph node metastasis (OR: 2.288, 95% CI: 1.159-4.517), TNM stages (OR: 1.957, 95% CI: 1.333-2.873), and N stage (OR: 2.316, 95% CI: 1.482-3.620). Analysis of TCGA database indicated that elevated vimentin predicated a shorter OS (p=0.033). Our findings reveal that upregulated vimentin contributes to the progression and poor prognosis of CRC. Vimentin may be a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in patients with CRC.