Prognostic significance of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E in hepatocellular carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
Aberrant expression of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) has been observed in human malignancies. However, its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains to be established. The purpose of this study was to detect eIF4E expression and to evaluate its clinical relevance.


METHODS
The eIF4E expression was studied in ninety HCC and randomly selected thirty-one non-tumor tissues from the same patient cohort, as well as in normal hepatic and HCC cell lines. The relation between its expression and clinicopathological parameters was also analyzed.


RESULTS
eIF4E expression was higher in HCC samples and cell lines compared with that in non-tumor tissues (P < 0.001) and hepatocyte LO2, respectively. eIF4E overexpression was significantly associated with tumor number (P = 0.005) and incomplete encapsulation (P = 0.001). The 5-year overall survival rate and disease-free survival rate for patients with high eIF4E expression were 32.5 and 31.2 %, respectively; and for low eIF4E expression, it was 67.9 and 64.4 %, respectively (P < 0.001). Furthermore, subgroup analysis showed that high eIF4E level predicted poorer overall survival only for incomplete encapsulation (P = 0.001) and cirrhosis (P < 0.001), but not for complete encapsulation (P = 0.804) and non-cirrhosis (P = 0.359). Multivariate analysis revealed that eIF4E overexpression was an independent indicator for both overall survival (hazard ratio, 2.015; P = 0.043) and disease-free survival (hazard ratio, 2.666; P = 0.006).


CONCLUSIONS
eIF4E protein might result in the malignant progression of HCC, and its overexpression may be a powerful prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for HCC patients.
Department of Gastroenterology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine Affiliated Haikou Hospital, Haikou, 570028, China.
Xue-Mei
XM
Jiang
Department of Gastroenterology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine Affiliated Haikou Hospital, Haikou, 570028, China.|Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China.
Xiang-Nan
XN
Yu
Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China.
Ren-Zheng
RZ
Huang
Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China.
Hai-Rong
HR
Zhu
Department of Gastroenterology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine Affiliated Haikou Hospital, Haikou, 570028, China.
Xiao-Peng
XP
Chen
Department of General Surgery, People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi, 830001, China.
Ju
J
Xiong
Department of Gastroenterology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine Affiliated Haikou Hospital, Haikou, 570028, China.
Zheng-Yi
ZY
Chen
Department of Gastroenterology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine Affiliated Haikou Hospital, Haikou, 570028, China.
Xiao-Xi
XX
Huang
Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China.|Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.|Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Xi-Zhong
XZ
Shen
Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China. zhu.jimin@zs-hospital.sh.cn.
Ji-Min
JM
Zhu
D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D029543:Nucleocytoplasmic Transport Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D015854:Up-Regulation
C411571:EIF4ENIF1 protein, human; D029543:Nucleocytoplasmic Transport Proteins
Clinicopathological feature; Eukaryotic initiation factor 4E; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Prognostic biomarker; Tissue microarray