Abstract: Objective To explore the expression of microfibril-associated protein 2 (MFAP2) in colorectal cancer (CRC) and its clinical and prognostic value. Methods RT- qPCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression of MFAP2 mRNA and protein in CRC cells and tissues, respectively.Then, immunohistochemical assay was used to detect the expression level of MFAP2 protein in 65 pairs of CRC and corresponding adjacent tissues, and the correlation of its expression with clinicopathological factors and patients' prognosis were further investigated. Results Compared to normal colorectal epithelial cell, the mRNA and protein expression of MFAP2 in CRC cells was significantly increased (P＜0.05, respectively).Consistently, the mRNA and protein expression of MFAP2 in CRC tissues was significant higher than that of paired adjacent normal tissues (P＜0.05, respectively). Immunohistochemical analysis showed that MFAP2 protein was highly expressed in CRC tissues with a positive rate of 60%, and the high expression of MFAP2 were significant association with tumor grade, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion, nerve invasion and TNM stage (P＜0.05, respectively). Survival analysis indicated high expression of MFAP2 was significantly associated with poor prognosis in patients with CRC(P＜0.05), and further univariate and multivariate analysis showed that high expression of MFAP2 protein was an independent factor affecting the prognosis of patients with CRC (HR=3.733,95% CI:1.509～9.229,P=0.004). Conclusion MFAP2 is up-regulated in CRC, and its high expression is closely related to the unfavorable clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients. These results indicate that MFAP2 may become a new prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target of CRC patients.

Key words: colorectal cancer, MFAP2, clinicopathological features, prognosis