title: Expression of farnesyltransferase in primary liver cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Primary liver cancer (PLC) is a common malignant tumor. Over the past decade, although farnesyltransferase (FTase) has emerged as a significant target for anticancer therapies and has become a hotspot of cancer research, its exact mechanism of action remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of FTase in PLC and its role in the development of PLC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Expression of FTase was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) in cancer and surrounding normal tissues from 32 patients with PLC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Expression of FTase mRNA in PLC was significantly higher than that in normal hepatic tissues (P < 0.001). Overexpression of FTase was as high as 87.5%. The positive rate for FTase mRNA in the high tendency to metastatic recurrence group was obviously higher than that in the low tendency to metastatic recurrence group (P = 0.02). The positive rate for FTase mRNA in patients with metastatic recurrence during postoperative follow-up was also significantly higher than that in those without metastatic recurrence (P = 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The level of FTase mRNA expression in cancer tissues is much higher than in normal tissues. FTase may play an important role in the genesis and development of PLC and may be one of the reliable markers for the metastatic activity gained by liver tumor cells. FTase could be used clinically in predicting metastatic recurrence of PLC.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China.
authors.forename: Guo-de
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Sui
authors.forename: Guang-Yong
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhao-Jian
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: San-Yuan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D051231:Farnesyltranstransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051231:Farnesyltranstransferase