title: Stem cell factor is a novel independent prognostic biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma after curative resection.
abstract: Stem cell factor (SCF), a ligand of c-kit, is a hematopoietic growth factor. Uncontrolled activity of SCF/c-kit signaling pathway contributes to the formation of a variety of human malignancies. In this study, we determined whether SCF expression could risk-stratify patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative resection. HCC tissues from 160 patients were collected during curative resection and stained with SCF and CD34, a marker for microvessel density (MVD), using immunohistochemistry. Two statistical analyses were performed: an independent continuous and a multivariate categorical analysis, with test/validation set-defined cut points, and Kaplan-Meier estimated outcome measures of overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS). We found that higher levels of SCF confer worse OS (continuous P = 0.014; and categorical P = 0.009), and RFS (continuous P = 0.002; categorical P = 0.003) of patients with HCC. SCF varies independently from MVD-CD34, tumor node metastasis, histologic grade, age and gender, and retains prognostic significance when analysed as a categorical variable in a multivariate analysis . We confirmed that MVD-CD34 is also an independent prognostic marker for patients with HCC. The levels of SCF and CD34 showed a positive and significant correlation (P < 0.0001) and double low expression confers superior OS (median = 48 months) and RFS (median = 24 months), whereas double high expression confers shortest RFS (median = 10.5 months) compared with single measurements. The prognostic values of SCF and CD34 were independently determined in this study and we propose that both of them are independent prognostic markers for HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Oncology and Department of Pathology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Lab of Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China and Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK.
authors.forename: Xiuchao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Oncology and Department of Pathology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Lab of Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China and Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Oncology and Department of Pathology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Lab of Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China and Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK.
authors.forename: Tiansuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Oncology and Department of Pathology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Lab of Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China and Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Oncology and Department of Pathology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Lab of Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China and Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Lab of Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China and.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Oncology and Department of Pathology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Lab of Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China and Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK.
authors.forename: Weidong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Oncology and Department of Pathology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Lab of Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China and Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Oncology and Department of Pathology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Lab of Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China and Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK.
authors.forename: Chuntao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Oncology and Department of Pathology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Lab of Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China and Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Oncology and Department of Pathology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Lab of Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China and Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK.
authors.forename: Mingxiao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK haojihui@tjmuch.com l.jia@qmul.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Oncology and Department of Pathology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Lab of Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China and Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK haojihui@tjmuch.com.
authors.forename: Jihui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hao
mesh_terms: D018952:Antigens, CD34 / Q000032:analysis; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D011379:Prognosis; D019089:Stem Cell Factor / Q000032:analysis*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018952:Antigens, CD34; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019089:Stem Cell Factor