Wang X, Yu Q, Ghareeb WM, et al. - In the present study, the researchers sought to measure SPINK4, known as a gastrointestinal peptide in the gastrointestinal tract and is abundantly expressed in human goblet cells, expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues and examine its association with clinicopathological characteristics and survival. To compare the expression level of SPINK4 between CRC tissues and normal colorectal tissues and to assess its value in anticipating the survival of CRC patients, they retrieved the expression data of 1,168 CRC patients from 3 Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets (GSE24551, GSE39582, GSE32323) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Findings suggested an association of decreased SPINK4 mRNA expression with poor prognosis in CRC patients in three independent databases (GSE24551, GSE39582, the TCGA database) and the own cohort. The authors concluded that SPINK4's reduced expression contributes to poor CRC survival, which serves as a novel indicator.