Objective  To explore the expression of KIF20A (kinesin family member 20A) in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues and adjacent normal tissues, and to analyze the relationship between KIF20A expression level and clinicopathological factors in CRC patients.

  Methods  Data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database were used to analyze KIF20A mRNA expression in CRC tissues and adjacent normal tissues. A total of 105 paraffin samples were obtained from CRC patients who had undergone surgery at Huai He Hospital of Henan University, from January 2011 to December 2012. Immunohistochemical staining (IHC) was performed to examine KIF20A protein expression in tumor samples for which complete clinical and pathological data were available. Statistical analyses were applied to analyze the association between KIF20A expression and the clinical data, as well as with survival outcomes.

  Results  Bioinformatics analysis showed that the mRNA expression level of KIF20A was upregulated in CRC tissues and normal tissues (P < 0.001). IHC revealed significantly higher expression of KIF20A in CRC tissues from 67 patients (64%) and lower or undetectable expression in 38 patients (36%). The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Overexpression of KIF20A in CRC tissues was significantly associated with depth of invasion, lymphatic node metastasis, distant metastasis, and TNM stage (all P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with high levels of KIF20A expression had poor prognosis compared to patients with low levels of KIF20A expression. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis revealed that KIF20A was an independent prognostic factor in patients with CRC.

  Conclusions  KIF20A is upregulated in CRC tissues and could serve as a novel prognostic biomarker for CRC patients.