title: Long non-coding RNA PVT1 is associated with tumor progression and predicts recurrence in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.
abstract: PVT1, which maps to chromosome 8q24, is a copy number amplification-associated long non-coding RNA. Overexpression of PVT1 is a powerful predictor of tumor progression and patient survival in a diverse range of cancer types. However, the association between PVT1 and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to examine the expression pattern of PVT1, and its clinical significance in HCC. Between 2003 and 2012, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the expression levels of PVT1 in two independent cohorts: Cohort one, 58 HCC resection samples; and cohort 2, 214 HCC transplant samples. Additionally, the correlation between PVT1 expression levels and clinical parameters and outcomes was analyzed. The relative expression levels of PVT1 were significantly higher in cancerous tissues compared with the corresponding non-cancerous tissues (cohort one, P=0.0016; cohort two, P=0.0274). Furthermore, overexpression of PVT1 was associated with a higher serum α-fetoprotein expression level (P=0.011) and a higher recurrence rate (P=0.004). Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that the patients with high PVT1 expression exhibited poor recurrence-free survival (P=0.021), and multivariate analysis demonstrated that high levels of PVT1 expression are an independent predictor for HCC recurrence (P=0.042; hazard ratio, 1.653). Thus, the high expression levels of PVT1 in HCC may serve as a novel biomarker for predicting tumor recurrence in HCC patients, and as a potential therapeutic target.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China ; Key Laboratory of Combined Multi-Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Public Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chaofeng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Combined Multi-Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Public Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Combined Multi-Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Public Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chengli
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: DU
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Combined Multi-Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Public Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chuanhui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Combined Multi-Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Public Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shaobing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China ; Key Laboratory of Combined Multi-Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Public Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Haiyang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China ; Key Laboratory of Combined Multi-Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Public Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China ; Key Laboratory of Combined Multi-Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Public Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China ; Key Laboratory of Combined Multi-Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Public Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shusen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zheng
keywords: PVT1; hepatocellular carcinoma; long non-coding RNA; progression; recurrence