title: DLC-1 is an independent prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target in hepatocellular cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The 5-year survival rate of patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC) was very low because of invasion and metastasis in the early stage. Biomarkers might help predict early occurrence of invasion and metastasis. Accumulating evidence has shown that deleted in liver cancer-1 (DLC1) may be considered as a metastasis suppressor gene in numerous solid and hematological cancers. However, its prognostic role and mechanisms that regulate and coordinate these activities remain poorly understood.
  
  
  METHODS
  With the method of immunohistochemistry, the expression of DLC-1 as well as Rho A, ROCK2, moesin had been characterized in 80 HCC tissues and adjacent noncancerous tissues. The correlation between their expression and their relationships with clinicopathological characteristics of HCC were also investigated. In addition, the prognostic value of DLC1 expression within the tumor tissues was assessed by Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DLC1 expression was significantly lower in HCC tissues than in adjacent noncancerous tissues, and DLC-1 expression was found to be negatively correlated with tumor differentiation, TNM stage and lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, DLC-1 expression was found to inversely correlate with Rho A, ROCK2 and moesin which were all highly expressed in HCC tissues. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that significantly longer 5-year survival rate was seen in HCC patients with higher DLC1 expression, compared to those with lower expression of DLC1. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analyses revealed that DLC1 was an independent factor affecting the overall survival probability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DLC1 could be served as a tumor suppressor gene in the progression especially in the invasion and metastasis of HCC. DLC1 perhaps played its role by regulating the expression of Rho A, ROCK2 and moesin. Evaluation of the expression of DLC-1 might be a good prognostic marker for patients with HCC.
authors: Department of Oncology, the first affiliated hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan, 450000, China. lijiesongcn@hotmail.com.
authors: L J
authors: LJ
authors: Song
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, the fifth affiliated hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan, 450000, China. bigquancn@163.com.
authors: Q
authors: Q
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Oncology, the first affiliated hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan, 450000, China. mengxiangruibb2008@163.com.
authors: X R
authors: XR
authors: Meng
authors: Department of Pathology, the first affiliated hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan, 450000, China. lslbljys@126.com.
authors: Sh L
authors: ShL
authors: Li
authors: Department of Oncology, the first affiliated hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan, 450000, China. liuxingw2014@163.com.
authors: L X
authors: LX
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Oncology, the first affiliated hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan, 450000, China. fqx2243@yahoo.com.cn.
authors: Q X
authors: QX
authors: Fan
authors: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Basic Medical School of Zhengzhou University, 100 Kexue Road, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, China. xxy@zzu.edu.cn.
authors: X Y
authors: XY
authors: Xuan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D018450:Disease Progression; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D013997:Time Factors; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases / Q000032:analysis; D020742:rhoA GTP-Binding Protein / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C112352:DLC1 protein, human; D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C066737:RHOA protein, human; C071058:moesin; C515852:ROCK2 protein, human; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases; D020742:rhoA GTP-Binding Protein