Aims: Our study aimed to investigate the expression and prognostic role of homeobox C6 (HOXC6) in prostate cancer (PCa). Methods: Relative expression of HOXC6 at mRNA and protein levels in tissues and cell lines of PCa were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot analysis, respectively. Association between HOXC6 expression and clinical factors was analyzed by Chi-square test. HOXC6 effects on the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of PCa cells were severally examined through CCK-8 and transwell assays. Results: Relative expressions of HOXC6 at mRNA and protein levels were obviously higher in both PCa tissues and cells than in adjacent non-cancerous tissues and normal human prostate epithelial cells (p < .05). Chi-square test demonstrated that high expression of HOXC6 was significantly associated with PSA concentration, Gleason score and TNM stage (p < .05). The down-regulation of HOCX6 remarkably inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of PCa cells. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with high HOXC6 expression had shorter overall survival than those with low HOXC6 expression (log rank test, p < .001). Conclusion: Up-regulated HOXC6, in PCa patients, could not only participate in the progression of PCa but also function as an independent prognostic marker for the cancer.
Keywords: HOXC6; progression; proliferation; prostate cancer.