title: Prognostic significance of long non-coding RNA PCAT-1 expression in human hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play widespread roles in gene regulation and cellular processes. However, the functional roles of lncRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are not yet well elucidated. The aim of the present study was to measure the levels of lncRNA PCAT-1 expression in HCC and evaluate its clinical significance in the development and progression of HCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined the expression of PCAT-1 in 117 HCC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues using quantitative real-time-PCR and analyzed its correlation with the clinical parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our data showed that PCAT-1 expression in HCC tissues was significantly increased compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues (P<0.05). Up-regulated expression of PCAT-1 was significantly associated with TNM stage and metastasis (P<0.05), but not other clinical parameters. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that a high expression level of PCAT-1 resulted in a significantly poor overall survival of HCC patients. The multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that PCAT-1 expression level was an independent prognostic factor for the overall survival rate of HCC patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggested that the increased expression of PCAT-1 was associated with advanced clinical parameters and poor overall survival of HCC patients, indicating that PCAT-1 up-regulation may serve as a novel biomarker of poor prognosis in HCC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Hyperbaric Oxygen, The Second Hospital of Longyan City Longyan 364000, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Ting-Hua
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Infections Disease, The People's Hospital of Quzhou City Quzhou 324000, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: The First Clinical Medical College, Fujian Medical University Fuzhou 350001, Fujian, China ; Department of Oncology, Longyan Humanity Hospital Longyan 364000, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Hyperbaric Oxygen, The Second Hospital of Longyan City Longyan 364000, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Sui-Wan
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infections Disease, The People's Hospital of Quzhou City Quzhou 324000, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Chun-Xian
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Hyperbaric Oxygen, The Second Hospital of Longyan City Longyan 364000, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Hua-Xing
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Que
authors.affiliation: Department of Infections Disease, The People's Hospital of Quzhou City Quzhou 324000, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Wei-Li
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Hyperbaric Oxygen, The Second Hospital of Longyan City Longyan 364000, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Mao
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000235:genetics*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C588212:PCAT-1 lncRNA, human; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding
keywords: PCAT-1; hepatocellular carcinoma; lncRNA; prognosis