The "stone-like" pattern of LC3A expression and its clinicopathologic significance in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun
; 431(4): 760-6, 2013 Feb 22.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23333394
ABSTRACT
Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process that involves lysosomal degradations of cellular organelles. Microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3A (LC3A), an autophagic gene, is differentially expressed in human cancers. However, the relationship between LC3A expression and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been investigated. Tissue microarray-based immunohistochemistry was used to examine the expression patterns of LC3A in HCC. The resulting data were analyzed using receiver operating characteristic curves, Spearman's rank correlation, Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox proportional hazards regression modeling. Two distinct patterns of LC3A expression were observed in HCC "stone-like" structuring and diffuse cytoplasmic expression. High levels of LC3A expression were more frequently observed in HCC tissues compared to the adjacent non-tumorous tissue. Correlation analyses indicated that high expression of the "stone-like" LC3A was correlated with greater levels of serum AFP, poorer tumor differentiation and the presence of vascular invasion. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed a significant association between high expression of the "stone-like" LC3A and unfavorable prognosis (P<0.001). Importantly, multivariate analysis (P<0.05) identified the "stone-like" expression of LC3A in HCC as an independent prognostic factor. Collectively, our data provide compelling evidence that "stone-like" expression of LC3A plays an important role in HCC progression and may act as a biomarker of prognosis for patients with HCC.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Biomarkers, Tumor
/
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular
/
Liver Neoplasms
/
Microtubule-Associated Proteins
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Biochem Biophys Res Commun
Year:
2013
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
China