Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of mucin 15 (MUC15) in hepatocellular carcinoma and explore its association with the prognosis of patients.
METHODS: The expression of MUC15 was detected by quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting in liver cell line L02, liver cancer cell lines HepG2, MHCC-97H, and SMMC-7721, and in 122 HCC and corresponding adjacent non-tumor liver tissues. The association of MUC15 expression in HCC tissues with the clinical parameters and the patients' survival was analyzed.
RESULTS: The 1iver cell line L02 showed significantly higher MUC15 expression level than the liver cancer cell lines HepG2, MHCC-97H, and SMMC-7721 (P<0.05). The expression level of MUC15 was markedly lower in the HCC tissues than in the adjacent non-tumor liver tissues (P<0.05). MUC15 expression in the HCC tissues was significantly correlated with the tumor TNM stage, intrahepatic or lymphatic metastasis, portal vein thrombosis and tumor differentiation (P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis suggested that a low MUC15 expression was associated with a poor clinical prognosis of the patients.
CONCLUSION: The expression of MUC15 is correlated with the clinicopathological features and prognosis of HCC patients, and may potentially serve as a novel prognostic marker for HCC.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1611-1615 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Nan Fang Yi Ke Da Xue Xue Bao / Journal of Southern Medical University |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| State | Published - 1 Nov 2014 |
