VGLL4 with low YAP expression is associated with favorable prognosis in colorectal cancer

The Hippo pathway is a tumor suppressive pathway regulating Yes‐associated protein‐TEA domain‐containing sequence‐specific transcription factor (YAP‐TEAD) complex. VGLL (Vestigial‐like) proteins are transcriptional cofactors competing with YAP for TEAD binding and interfering oncogenic activity of YAP‐TEAD complex. We evaluated the expression of VGLL4, YAP, and TEAD4 and assessed their correlations with clinicopathologic factors and prognostic effects in 295 colorectal cancers. VGLL4 was positive in 164 (55.6%) cases and correlated with small tumor size, low pT classification, and absence of lymph node metastasis. YAP and TEAD4 were highly expressed in 138 (46.8%) cases and 144 (48.8%) cases, respectively, and high expressions were associated with presence of lymphovascular invasion and lymph node metastasis, or distant metastasis. VGLL4 expression was significantly correlated with low YAP expression (p