title: Expression of HSPA2 in human hepatocellular carcinoma and its clinical significance.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the most common cancers worldwide. HSPA2 has been highlighted as an important marker in many types of cancers. However, little is known about the role of HSPA2 in HCC. The objective of the current study was to investigate the expression pattern and clinicopathological significance of HSPA2 in patients with HCC. Quantitative reverse-transcriptase ploymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was applied to examine HSPA2 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in 52 pairs of HCC tissues and adjacent noncancerous tissues. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to examine HSPA2 protein expression in paraffin-embedded tissues from 119 HCC patients. Statistical analyses were applied to evaluate the diagnostic value and associations of HSPA2 expression with clinicopathological characteristics. We identified abnormally elevated mRNA expression of HSPA2 in HCC tissues compared to paired adjacent noncancerous tissues (P < 0.001). Clinicopathological analysis showed that HSPA2 expression was significantly correlated with tumor size (P = 0.013), histological differentiation (P = 0.04), and tumor stage (P = 0.001). Patients with higher HSPA2 expression had shorter overall survival time, whereas those with lower HSPA2 expression had longer survival time. Furthermore, Cox regression analyses showed that HSPA2 expression was an independent predictor of overall survival. In conclusion, our findings provide evidences that positive expression of HSPA2 in HCC may be important in the acquisition of an aggressive phenotype and it is an independent biomarker for poor prognosis of patients with HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 51, Fucheng Road, Beijing, 100048, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Xiao-Song
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Huan-Rong
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Jun-Xun
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Fang-Fang
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Du
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; C091879:HSPA2 protein, human; D012333:RNA, Messenger