title: Increased Copy Number of the Gene Encoding SF3B4 Indicates Poor Prognosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Defects in alternative splicing contribute to carcinogenesis, cancer progression and chemoresistance. The spliceosome pathway, including SF3B4, a component of spliceosomal complex is suggested to play a role in progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the clinical relevance of SF3B4 in HCC remains unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  SF3B4 expression was evaluated by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in 72 HCC samples and non-cancerous liver samples. The relationship between the DNA copy number and SF3B4 expression levels was investigated using TCGA datasets.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SF3B4 expression was significantly higher in cancerous than in non-cancerous tissues and positively correlated with SF3B4 DNA copy number. High SF3B4 expression is significantly associated with intrahepatic metastasis and poor prognosis. These results were consistent with data from the public datasets.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overexpression of SF3B4, that is due to DNA copy number increase, is suggested to play a role in progression of HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Hisateru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Komatsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Sho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nambara
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kidogami
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Yushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Qingjiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidenari
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Shotaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryutaro
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan.
authors.forename: Keishi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugimachi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Science Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maehara
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyushu University, Beppu Hospital, Beppu, Japan kmimori@beppu.kyushu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Koshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mimori
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D018628:Gene Dosage; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D000072260:RNA Splicing Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000072260:RNA Splicing Factors; C486347:SF3B4 protein, human
keywords: SF3B; copy number alteration; hepatocellular carcinoma; prognosis; progression