Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Chromobox (CBX) protein family, which is a crucial part of the epigenetic regulatory complex, plays an important role in the occurrence and development of cancer; however, the function and prognostic value of CBX family members in gastric cancer is not clear. METHODS: we investigated the relationship between CBX members and gastric cancer using a range of tools and databases: Oncomine, Kaplan-Meier plotter, cBioPortal, ULCAN, Metascape, and GEPIA. RESULTS: The results showed that, relative to normal gastric tissue, mRNA expression levels of CBX1-6 were significantly higher in gastric cancer tissue, whereas the level of CBX7 was significantly lower. Furthermore, overexpression of CBX3-6 and underexpression of CBX7 mRNAs was significantly related to the poor prognosis and survival of gastric cancer patients, making these CBX family members useful biomarkers. Finally, overexpression of CBX1 mRNA was significantly related to the poor prognosis of gastric cancer patients treated with adjuvant 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: The members of the CBX family can be used as prognosis and survival biomarkers for gastric cancer and CBX1 may be a biomarker for choosing the chemotherapy regimen of gastric cancer patients.