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Serum DLK1 is a potential prognostic biomarker in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most prevalent cancer and the third most frequent cause of cancer-related death in developing countries, especially in East Asia and South Africa, and the identification of new biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis is needed. Delta-like 1 homologue (Drosophila) (DLK1) is expressed in malignancies and promotes cancer cell stemness and tumourigenicity, which makes this molecule a potential target for therapies directed against cancer stem/progenitor cells. Here, we aimed to assess the predictive value of DLK1 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in HCC. With this purpose, serum DLK1 levels were detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in serum specimens from 397 HCC patients, 114 healthy individuals, 43 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and 24 cirrhotic liver patients with HBV infection, and the correlation between DLK1 levels and clinical features was evaluated. Our data showed that the serum DLK1 level was significantly higher in HCC patients than in healthy individuals or patients with chronic HBV infection (HBV carriers) (P < 0.05). Moreover, the serum DLK1 levels were positively correlated with tumour size and α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, but not with gender, age, histological grade, HBV infection, intrahepatic metastasis or cirrhosis in HCC patients. Kaplan–Meier analysis indicated that higher DLK1 levels were associated with shorter survival in HCC patients. These results suggest that the serum levels of DLK1 may serve as a prognostic biomarker for HCC patients.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by grants from the National Key Program for Basic Research of China (973) (2015CB553905), National Natural Science Foundation of China (81272438, 81201623, 81372192 and 81472726), Key Discipline and Specialty Foundation of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning, Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (No. 13ZZ082), National Key Sci-Tech Special Project of China (2013ZX10002-011) and SKLORG Research foundation (91-12-04, 91-13-02 and 91-14-09).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 25/Ln 2200, Xietu Road, Shanghai, 200032, China

    Hong Li, Mei-ling Cui, Hong Tu, Fu-hua Chen, Chao Ge & Jin-jun Li

  2. Qidong Liver Cancer Institute, Qidong, 226200, China

    Tao-yang Chen

  3. Department of General Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310003, China

    Hai-yang Xie

  4. Cancer Institute of Guangxi, Nanning, 530027, China

    Ying Cui

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  1. Hong Li
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Correspondence to Jin-jun Li.

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Li, H., Cui, Ml., Chen, Ty. et al. Serum DLK1 is a potential prognostic biomarker in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Tumor Biol. 36, 8399–8404 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-3607-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-3607-8

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