T-cell leukemia/lymphoma-1A predicts the clinical outcome for patients with stage II/III colorectal cancer.

T-cell leukemia/lymphoma-1A (TCL1A) as a stem cell marker is abundantly expressed in embryonic stem cells and has been identified as an oncogene in various hematological malignancies such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia and B-cell lymphoma. However, with regard to its role in solid tumors, few studies are available and less are for colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, we aim to investigate the expression and clinical significance of TCL1A in a cohort of 278 stage II/III CRC patients. As a result, we find TCL1A expression is higher in CRC tissues than that in adjacent normal tissues, and significantly correlated with tumor differentiation, TNM stage and Ki-67 positive rate. The prognostic analysis suggests that TCL1A expression is an independent factor affecting CRC-specific and disease-free survival of these patients. Furthermore, we find stage II/III patients with high TCL1A expression have a significantly higher rate of postoperative local recurrence and metastasis than those with low TCL1A expression. Finally, through subgroup analysis, we find TCL1A expression can stratify the outcome of stage II/III patients who received standard adjuvant chemotherapy. Taken together, our findings suggest TCL1A is not only a useful biomarker for prognostic evaluation in stage II/III CRC patients, but also a promising therapeutic target for improving their clinical outcome.