BRG1 is correlated with poor prognosis in colorectal cancer

Brahma-related gene 1 (BRG1), a component of the chromatin-remodeling complex, regulates transcription by remodeling the chromatin structure. The present study aimed to elucidate the clinicopathological significance and prognostic role of BRG1 in colorectal cancer (CRC). We investigated the correlation between BRG1 expression and clinicopathological parameters, including prognosis, using immunohistochemistry on 266 archival paraffin-embedded CRC tissues. In addition, to confirm the prognostic role of BRG1 in malignant tumors, we performed a meta-analysis of 9 eligible studies and the current study. BRG1 was highly expressed in 67.7% of the 266 CRCs analyzed. High BRG1 expression significantly correlated with poor overall and recurrence-free survival (P < .001 and P < .001, respectively). The high expression of BRG1 also significantly correlated with high expression of SNAI (P < .001) but not E-cadherin (P = .432). However, there was no significant correlation between BRG1 expression and other clinicopathological parameters. The meta-analysis also demonstrated that high BRG1 expression positively correlated with poor overall and recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio 1.572, 95% confidence interval 1.106-2.235 and hazard ratio 2.050, 95% confidence interval 1.610-2.610, respectively). However, subgroup analysis based on tumor type showed that the correlation between BRG1 expression and poor prognosis was only prevalent in CRC and breast cancer. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that high BRG1 expression was associated with high SNAI expression and was significantly correlated with poor prognosis. •BRG1 was highly expressed in 67.7% of 266 colorectal cancers.•High BRG1 expression significantly correlated with poor survival.•High BRG1 expression significantly correlated with high expression of SNAI.•In a meta-analysis, high BRG1 expression positively correlated with poor survival.