LAPTM4B-35 is a novel prognostic factor of hepatocellular carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
LAPTM4B-35 is a 35-kDa tetra-transmembrane protein overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and promotes cell survival, proliferation, and tumorigenesis. However, the potential clinical implications of LAPTM4B-35 in HCC are still unclear. This study is aimed to investigate the correlations between LAPTM4B-35 expression and prognosis in patients with HCC.


METHODS
Western blot and immunohistochemistry assays were used to determine the expression of LAPTM4B-35 in HCCs and their paired noncancerous liver tissues from 65 patients. The correlations of LAPTM4B-35 expression with clinicopathological parameters were assessed by Chi-square test. Patient survival was determined by Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Cox regression was adopted for multivariate analysis of prognostic factors.


RESULTS
LAPTM4B-35 overexpression occurred in 76.9% of HCC tissues, while only in 4.6% of noncancerous liver tissues. Overexpression of LAPTM4B-35 was significantly associated with TNM staging and invasive tumors. Patients with higher LAPTM4B-35 expression had significantly poorer overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) (both P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, elevated expression of LAPTM4B-35 was found to be an independent prognostic factor for OS and DFS (P = 0.009, 0.043, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
LAPTM4B-35 overexpression is an independent prognostic factor for OS and DFS of HCC.
Yang
Hua
H
Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Xiong
Fuxia
F
Qi
Ruizhao
R
Liu
Zhenwen
Z
Lin
Ming
M
Rui
Jingan
J
Su
Jing
J
Zhou
Rouli
R
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000737:chemistry / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015513:Oncogene Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D011379:Prognosis
C477083:LAPTM4B protein, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D015513:Oncogene Proteins