Expression and significance of the novel tumor-suppressor gene SMG-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Recent studies have demonstrated that SMG-1, a newly characterized member of the family of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-related protein kinases (PIKKs), is involved in tumorigenesis as a new tumor suppressor. However, its expression and significance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain obscure. The present study investigated SMG-1 expression in HCC tissue specimens, aimed at defining the association with clinicopathological significance. Both immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR were employed to analyze SMG-1 expression in 157 HCC and corresponding distant normal tissue specimens. The results revealed that expression of SMG-1 was significantly lower in the HCC tissue specimens than that in the distant normal tissues. Moreover, a lower expression level of SMG-1 was significantly correlated with serum α-fetoprotein level (P=0.001), poorly differentiated tumors (P=0.009) and more advanced TNM stage (P<0.001). Further study showed that SMG-1 expression was exactly associated with tumor differentiation and clinical stage in HCC. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that low SMG-1 expression was related to poor overall survival, and the prognostic impact of SMG-1 was further confirmed by stratified survival analysis. Importantly, multivariate analysis revealed that low SMG-1 expression was an independent prognostic marker for an unfavorable overall survival. We conclude that SMG-1 is downregulated in HCC and may represent a promising biomarker for predicting the prognosis of HCC, including the prognosis of early-stage patients.
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Li-Li
LL
Han
Department of Surgical Oncology, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region 750004, P.R. China.
Hao-Cheng
HC
Nan
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Tao
T
Tian
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Hui
H
Guo
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Ting-Hua
TH
Hu
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Wen-Juan
WJ
Wang
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Jie-Qun
JQ
Ma
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Li-Li
LL
Jiang
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Qian-Qian
QQ
Guo
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Cheng-Cheng
CC
Yang
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Xiao-Min
XM
Kang
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Ying
Y
Liu
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Yuan
Y
Gao
Department of Surgical Oncology, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region 750004, P.R. China.
Qi-Lun
QL
Liu
Department of Oncology, First Afﬁliated Hospital, College of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
Ke-Jun
KJ
Nan
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D011379:Prognosis; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics
D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C514704:SMG1 protein, human