title: Human U Three Protein 14a Expression is Increased in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Associated with Poor Prognosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human U three protein 14a (hUTP14a) promotes p53 degradation. Moreover, hUTP14a expression is upregulated in several types of tumors. However, the expression pattern of hUTP14a in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate hUTP14a expression and its prognostic value in HCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  The hUTP14a expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) in HCC tissue specimens. The correlations between hUTP14a expression and clinicopathological variables were analyzed. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the association between hUTP14a expression and survival. Independent prognostic factors associated with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were analyzed using the Cox proportional-hazards regression model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The IHC data revealed that the hUTP14a positivity rate in HCC tissue specimens was significantly higher than that in nontumorous tissue specimens (89.9% vs. 72.7%, P < 0.05). The hUTP14a expression was detected in both the nucleolus and the cytoplasm. The positivity rate of nucleolar hUTP14a expression in HCC tissue specimens was higher than that in the nontumorous tissue specimens (29.3% vs. 10.1%, P < 0.05). No significant difference was found between HCC and nontumorous tissue specimens of cytoplasmic hUTP14a expression (60.6% vs. 62.6%, P > 0.05). In addition, no significant correlation was found between nucleolar hUTP14a expression and other clinicopathological variables. The 5-year OS and DFS rates in patients with positive nucleolar hUTP14a expression were significantly lower than those in patients with negative hUTP14a expression (P = 0.004 for OS, P = 0.003 for DFS). Multivariate analysis showed that nucleolar hUTP14a expression was an independent prognostic factor for OS (P = 0.004) and DFS (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The positivity rate of hUTP14a expression was significantly higher in HCC specimens. Positive expression of nucleolar hUTP14a might act as a novel prognostic predictor for patients with HCC.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Department I, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing 100142, China.
authors.forename: Jing-Yi
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Department I, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing 100142, China.
authors.forename: Da
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Department I, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing 100142, China.
authors.forename: Zhen-Zhen
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Department I, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing 100142, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Department I, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing 100142, China.
authors.forename: Li-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Department I, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing 100142, China.
authors.forename: Bao-Cai
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Xing
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D020718:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nucleolar / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D020718:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nucleolar