title: [Expression of mucin 15 in hepatocellular carcinoma and its clinical implications].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the expression of mucin 15 (MUC15) in hepatocellular carcinoma and explore its association with the prognosis of patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The expression of MUC15 was detected by quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting in liver cell line L02, liver cancer cell lines HepG2, MHCC-97H, and SMMC-7721, and in 122 HCC and corresponding adjacent non-tumor liver tissues. The association of MUC15 expression in HCC tissues with the clinical parameters and the patients' survival was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 1iver cell line L02 showed significantly higher MUC15 expression level than the liver cancer cell lines HepG2, MHCC-97H, and SMMC-7721 (P<0.05). The expression level of MUC15 was markedly lower in the HCC tissues than in the adjacent non-tumor liver tissues (P<0.05). MUC15 expression in the HCC tissues was significantly correlated with the tumor TNM stage, intrahepatic or lymphatic metastasis, portal vein thrombosis and tumor differentiation (P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis suggested that a low MUC15 expression was associated with a poor clinical prognosis of the patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The expression of MUC15 is correlated with the clinicopathological features and prognosis of HCC patients, and may potentially serve as a novel prognostic marker for HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an 710061, China. E-mail: liuqingquan918@163.com.
authors.forename: Qingquan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Hongyong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Yingmin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Qingguang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009077:Mucins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: C460499:MUC15 protein, human; D009077:Mucins