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. 2025 Jun 23;22(13):3191-3201.
doi: 10.7150/ijms.114411. eCollection 2025.

Identification of IGF2BP3 for the Expression and Prognosis in Gastrointestinal Cancers

Fengfeng Han  1 , Chen He  1 , Chen Qian  2   3 , Yujie Wang  2 , Mingge Zhou  1 , Ruirui Yang  4 , Zhou Zhang  2   3
Affiliations

Identification of IGF2BP3 for the Expression and Prognosis in Gastrointestinal Cancers

Fengfeng Han et al. Int J Med Sci. .

Abstract

Purpose: This study investigates the expression, diagnostic, and prognostic significance of IGF2BP3 in gastrointestinal cancers, providing new insights for clinical management and patient care. Methods: An integrated approach was used to analyze the expression and mutation of IGF2BP3 across various cancers, utilizing multiple online analytical tools. Data from the TCGA database were examined to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in four types of gastrointestinal cancers and to assess the specific expression of IGF2BP3. Further validation was carried out through western blotting (WB), quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was also employed to investigate the relationships between IGF2BP3 and its associated genes. Additionally, bioinformatics databases were used to investigate the impact of IGF2BP3 on the diagnosis and prognosis of these cancers. Results: High expression of IGF2BP3 is a notable feature across these four gastrointestinal cancers, as demonstrated in public databases. Confirmation in cancer cells and tissues support this observation. Clinicopathological analysis reveals significant associations between IGF2BP3 expression and cancer stages in gastric cancer, and with cancer grades in liver cancer. The diagnostic accuracy of IGF2BP3 is found to be highest for esophageal cancer. Moreover, elevated IGF2BP3 levels correlate with poorer overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in liver cancer patients. Conclusions: This study underscores the significant expression of IGF2BP3 in gastrointestinal cancers and its potential value in both diagnostic and prognostic assessments. These findings could enhance diagnostic accuracy and support the development of targeted therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: IGF2BP3; diagnosis; gastrointestinal cancers; prognosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Expression and mutation of IGF2BP3 in pan-cancer. (A) Expression of IGF2BP3 in pan-cancer. (B) Frequency and types of alterations in IGF2BP3 across pan-cancer. (C) Gene mutation sites of IGF2BP3 in pan-cancer.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Expression of IGF2BP3 in gastrointestinal cancers. (A-D) Volcano plots of gastrointestinal cancers. (E-H) Box-plots of IGF2BP3 in gastrointestinal cancers.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Validation of IGF2BP3 expression in gastrointestinal cancers. (A-B) WB for IGF2BP3 expression in HET-1A, TE-1, GES-1, HGC-27, LX-2, HepG2, NCM460, HT-29 cells. (C) QRT-PCR for IGF2BP3 expression in HET-1A, TE-1, GES-1, HGC-27, LX-2, HepG2, NCM460, HT-29 cells. (D-E) IGF2BP3 levels were determined by IHC staining in gastrointestinal cancers tissues.
Figure 4
Figure 4
PPI network analysis of IGF2BP3 and its associated genes. (A) PPI network of genes correlated with IGF2BP3. (B) PPI network of genes positively correlated with IGF2BP3. (C) PPI network of genes negatively correlated with IGF2BP3.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Correlation Between IGF2BP3 and Clinicopathological Characteristics of gastrointestinal cancers. (A-D) The relationship between IGF2BP3 expression and clinical characteristics of (A) esophageal, (B) gastric, (C) liver cancer, and (D) colorectal cancer.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Diagnostic efficacy of IGF2BP3 in gastrointestinal cancers. (A) Diagnostic efficacy of IGF2BP3 in ESCA. (B) Diagnostic efficacy of IGF2BP3 in STAD. (C) Diagnostic efficacy of IGF2BP3 in LIHC. (D) Diagnostic efficacy of IGF2BP3 in COAD.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Prognostic Analysis of IGF2BP3 in gastrointestinal cancers. (A-D) Effect of IGF2BP3 expression on OS in gastrointestinal cancers patients. (E-H) Effect of IGF2BP3 expression on PFS in gastrointestinal cancers patients.
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