title: Loss of FBXW7 expression is associated with poor prognosis in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  FBXW7 acts as a tumor suppressor gene by targeting several oncogenic regulators of proliferation, growth and apoptosis for proteasomal degradation. However, the significance of this protein is not yet well understood in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCC). In this study, we aimed to investigate the correlation between FBXW7 expression and clinicopathological variables in IHCC patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-one patients with IHCC who underwent hepatic resection were enrolled. FBXW7 expression in tumor tissue was determined by immunohistochemistry and patients were divided into two groups, the FBXW7 high expression group (n = 11) and the FBXW7 low expression group (n = 20). We then compared clinicopathological variables including prognosis between the high and low expression groups in tumor tissue.
  
  
  RESULTS
  FBXW7 expression was significantly correlated with staging (P = 0.006), and tended to correlate with lymph node metastasis. The FBXW7 low expression group had significantly poorer prognosis compared with the FBXW7 high expression group (P = 0.020); 3-year survival rates were 29.4% and 72.7%, respectively. Furthermore, the disease-free survival rate in the FBXW7 low expression group was significantly worse than in the FBXW7 high expression group (P = 0.022). On multivariate analysis, intrahepatic metastasis (P = 0.006) was a significant independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival, and FBXW7 low expression tended to be an independent prognostic factor for both overall (P = 0.067) and disease-free survival (P = 0.083).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results confirmed that low expression of FBXW7 in IHCC correlates with tumor progression and poor prognosis in IHCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Institute of Health Biosciences, The University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Chinbold
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Enkhbold
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Utsunomiya
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morine
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Imura
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikemoto
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Arakawa
authors.forename: Mami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanamoto
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwahashi
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Daichi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimada
keywords: FBXW7; clinicopathological variables; intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma