Expression of ankyrin 2 in hepatocellular carcinoma is dysregulated and affects the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Abstract

Objective To detect the difference of ankyrin 2 (ANK2) gene expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and related adjacent tissues, and to analyze the its effect on prognosis of HCC patients. Methods Surgical specimens of 80 HCC patients were collected. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression of ANK2 gene in cancer and adjacent tissues. According to the expression level of ANK2 gene in HCC, the patients were divided into high expression group (n=40) and low expression group (n=40). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to analyze the prognosis of patients based on Cox regression model. Results In 80 HCC samples, nearly 70% of the (55/80) tumor tissue samples showed dysregulated expression of ANK2 and the expression levels of ANK2 were significantly higher in the tumor tissues than those in the adjacent tissues. After grouping patients according to ANK2 expression levels, it was found that the overall survival rate (P=0.024) and disease-free survival rate (P=0.011) of the patients with low expression of ANK2 were significantly higher than those of the patients with high expression group. Cox univariate and multivariate analysis showed that ANK2 expression level was an independent prognostic factor. Conclusion The expression of ANK2 gene in HCC tissues is abnormally higher, and affects the prognosis of patients. Key words: Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Ankyrin 2 gene; Prognosis.