Expression of A20 gene in hepatocellular carcinoma patients and its prognostic significance / 肿瘤

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the expression of A20, also known as tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to explore its relationship with prognosis. Methods: The expression levels of A20 mRNA in 86 cases of HCC and the corresponding adjacent tissues as well as 26 cases of normal liver tissues from the patients with hepatic hemangioma were measured by real-time fluorescent quantitative-PCR. The correlations of A20 expression with clinicopathologic features and prognosis of HCC patients after radical operation were analyzed. Results: The relative expression level of A20 mRNA in HCC tissues was 1.620+0.155, which was significantly higher than that in normal liver tissues (0.410±0.043, P < 0.001). The relative expression level in A20 mRNA in para-HCC tissues was 1.215±0.134, which was significantly higher than that in normal liver tissues (P = 0.001). There was no significant difference in A20 mRNA expression level between HCC and para-HCC tissues (P = 0.087). The expression level of A20 in HCC tissues was closely correlated with tumor differentiation (P < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that HCC patients with high expression of A20 mRNA had poorer prognosis with lower probability of overall survival (OS, P = 0.016) and shorter time to tumor recurrence (TTR, P = 0.011). The univariate analysis showed that the expression level of A20 mRNA was closely related to the prognosis of HCC patients (OS: P = 0.012; TTR: P = 0.013). The multivariate analysis showed that A20 could be an independent prognostic factor for HCC patients (OS: P = 0.021; TTR: P = 0.018). Conclusion: The expression level of A20 mRNA in HCC is significantly higher than that in normal liver. A20 may be used as an independent prognostic indicator for survival and recurrence of HCC patients.