title: Kindlin-2: a novel prognostic biomarker for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: The association of aberrant expression of Kindlin-2 with tumor progression has been reported in recent years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of Kindlin-2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to evaluate its clinical and prognostic significance. The mRNA and protein levels of Kindlin-2 in HCC and adjacent non-cancerous tissues were examined by real-time PCR and western blotting. The relationships between Kindlin-2 expression, clinicopathological features and postoperative survival of HCC patients were also evaluated. Kindlin-2 expression was higher in HCC tissues as compared to adjacent non-cancerous tissues at both mRNA and protein levels (P<0.05, respectively). Positive expression of Kindlin-2 was significantly correlated with larger tumor size (P=0.034), capsular invasion (P=0.009), microvascular invasion (P=0.028) and poor prognosis of HCC patients (P<0.001). Moreover, multivariate survival analysis identified Kindlin-2 as an independent prognostic factor for overall and disease-free survival of HCC patients (P=0.018 and 0.001, respectively). Taken together, our findings suggested that Kindlin-2 was highly expressed in HCC tissues and was closely related to clinical progression. Therefore, Kindlin-2 protein could be a potential biomarker for predicting poor prognosis of HCC patients after surgery.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China; Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China; Department of Hepatic Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Sheng
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China; Department of general surgery, Lu'an People's Hospital, Lu'an 237005, Anhui Province, China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China; Department of Hepatic Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China.
authors.forename: Wei-Dong
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China; Department of Hepatic Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Sheng
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China; Department of Hepatic Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Liang
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China; Department of Hepatic Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China.
authors.forename: Ji-Hai
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China; Department of Hepatic Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China. Electronic address: xugeliang@126.com.
authors.forename: Ge-Liang
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C477322:FERMT3 protein, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins
keywords: Biomarker; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Kindlin-2; Prognosis