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High expression of AP-4 predicts poor prognosis for hepatocellular carcinoma after curative hepatectomy

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between activating enhancer binding protein 4 (AP-4) tissue expression and patient prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The levels of AP-4 mRNA and protein in tumor and para-tumor tissue were evaluated in 30 HCC cases by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot. Additionally, AP-4 protein expression in 112 HCC was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. The correlation of AP-4 expression and patients’ clinicopathological parameters was evaluated. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox’s proportional hazards model. By RT-PCR and Western blot, the levels of AP-4 mRNA and protein were significantly higher in HCC, compared to that in para-tumor tissue (p < 0.001). Immunohistochemical staining revealed that AP-4 was highly expressed in 53.6 % of the HCC patients. The AP-4 expression level was closely associated with serum alpha fetoprotein elevation, tumor size, histological differentiation, tumor recurrence, tumor metastasis, and tumor stage. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that a high expression level of AP-4 resulted in a significantly poor prognosis of HCC patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that AP-4 expression level was an independent prognostic parameter for the overall survival rate of HCC patients. These findings provide evidence that a high expression level of AP-4 serves as a biomarker for poor prognosis for HCC. Thus, we speculate that AP-4 may be a potential target of antiangiogenic therapy for HCC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100853, China

    Ben-Shun Hu, Jia-Hong Dong & Jing-Wang Tan

  2. Department of Gastroenterology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Medical School of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710004, China

    Gang Zhao

  3. Department of General Surgery, Northern Jiangsu People’s Hospital, Yangzhou, 225000, China

    Ben-Shun Hu, Hai-Feng Yu & Ke Chen

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  1. Ben-Shun Hu
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  2. Gang Zhao
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  3. Hai-Feng Yu
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  4. Ke Chen
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  5. Jia-Hong Dong
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Correspondence to Jing-Wang Tan.

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Ben-Shun Hu, Gang Zhao, and Hai-Feng Yu contributed equally to this paper.

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Hu, BS., Zhao, G., Yu, HF. et al. High expression of AP-4 predicts poor prognosis for hepatocellular carcinoma after curative hepatectomy. Tumor Biol. 34, 271–276 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-012-0547-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-012-0547-4

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