Abstract
Single-stranded DNA binding protein 2 (SSBP2) is involved in DNA damage response and may induce growth arrest in cancer cells, having a potent tumor suppressor role. SSBP2 is ubiquitously expressed and the loss of its expression has been reported in various tumor types. However, the correlation between SSBP2 expression and colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis remains unclear. SSBP2 nuclear expression was evaluated immunohistochemically in 48 normal colonic mucosae, 47 adenomas, 391 primary adenocarcinomas, and 131 metastatic carcinoma tissue samples. The clinicopathological factors, overall survival (OS), and recurrence-free survival were evaluated, and associations with the clinicopathological parameters were analyzed in 391 colorectal adenocarcinoma patients. A diffuse nuclear SSBP2 expression was detected in all normal colonic mucosa and adenoma samples. SSBP2 expression loss was observed in 131 (34.3%) primary adenocarcinoma and 100 (76.3%) metastatic carcinoma samples. SSBP2 expression was significantly associated with poor prognostic factors, such as vascular invasion (p = 0.005), high pT category (p = 0.045), and shorter OS (p = 0.038), using univariate survival analysis. Nuclear SSBP2 expression loss was significantly observed in colorectal carcinoma and metastatic carcinoma tissues, being associated with poor prognostic factors. SSBP2 acts as a tumor suppressor and may be used as a CRC prognostic biomarker.