Dicer expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and its association with prognosis in patients subject to radical resection

Abstract

Objective To evaluate Dicer expression and its prognostic value in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after radical resection.Methods Dicer mRNA expression was detected in HCC frozen specimens (n =17) and their adjacent peritumoral tissues.Dicer protein expression was detected in a HCC tissue microarray containing paired intratumoral and peritumoral tissues (n =276),and normal liver tissues (n =40).The analyses were performed to investigate their prognostic values in HCC patients undergoing radical resection.Dicer mRNA and protein expression was further measured in HCC cell lines with different metastatic potentials and a normal liver cell line.Results Dicer mRNA and protein expression was significantly lower in HCC intratumoral tissues than in their paired peritumoral tissues and normal liver tissues (P ＜ 0.01).HCC patients with lower intratumoral Dicer expression had significantly shorter OS time (P ＜ 0.05),and patients with lower peritumoral Dicer expression had both significantly shorter OS and DFS time (P ＜ 0.05).Dicer mRNA and protein expression was higher in L-02 than in HCC cell lines (P ＜0.01),and it was decreased gradually in HCC cell lines with increased metastatic potentials.Conclusion Dicer expression may be associated with HCC carcinogenesis and metastasis,and its low expression in either intratumoral or peritumoral tissue may indicate poor prognosis in HCC patients after radical resection. Key words: Carcinoma,hepatocelluar; Dicer; Prognosis