Expression Of TUSC3 In Hepatocellular Carcinoma And Its Clinical Significance

PurposeThe Tumor Suppressor Candidate 3(TUSC3)has been considered to be closely associated with the occurrence,development and invasion of various malignant tumors.However,the expression of TUSC3 in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)tissues still remains ambiguous.The purpose of this research was to investigate the expression of TUSC3 in HCC tissues and analyze the relationship between TUSC3 levels and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of HCC patients.Materials and methodsImmunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of TUSC3 in HCC and the corresponding para-cancerous tissues from 92 samples of HCC patients.Moreover,mRNA and protein expression levels of TUSC3 was evaluated by qRT-PCR and Western blot assays in 25 paird HCC tissues and corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues.Furthermore,statistical methods were applied to analyze the correlations between TUSC3 levels and the clinicopathological features and prognosis of HCC patients.ResultsResults of immunohistochemical staining for the 92 paraffin-embedded tissue specimens showed TUSC3 expression down-regulated in 56 cases(60.9%)in HCC tissues,and only in 33 cases(35.9%)in adjacent tissues,and the di erence was statistically significant(P<0.001).The results of qRT-PCR and Western blot assays indicated TUSC3 levels in HCC tissues were significantly lower than that in corresponding adjacent noncancerous tissues,and the relative expression of TUSC3 mRNA in HCC tissues and adjacent liver tissues were 0.64 ± 0.64 and 1.48 ± 1.17,respectively(P<0.01).The relative expression of TUSC3 protein in HCC and adjacent liver tissue were 0.55 ± 0.34 and 1.07 ± 0.43,respectively(P<0.001).The statistical analysis of relationship between TUSC3 levels and clinicopathological characteristics showed that the low expression of TUSC3 in HCC tissues was significantly correlation to Edmondson grade,BCLC stage and tumor size(P=0.008,P=0.009,P=0.020).Univariate analysis showed that the expression of TUSC3 was strongly associated with overall survival(OS)and disease-free survival(DFS)after radical surgery in patients with HCC(P<0.001,P<0.001).Multivariate analysis revealed that TUSC3 level was an independent risk factor of OS and DFS in patients with HCC(P<0.001,P<0.001).ConclusionThe expression of TUSC3 in HCC was significantly down-regulated and correlated with the tumor progression and prognosis,which could be used as an independent predictor of prognosis in patients with HCC.