Gene signatures define chromosomal instability (CIN) and poor survival in HCC patients

Abstract

Chromosomal instability (CIN) is a main characteristic of aggressive tumors and is associated with poor patient prognosis. For different tumor entities such as breast and lung cancer, Carter et al. (2006) defined gene expression signatures which correlate with CIN and poor overall survival of cancer patients. In this study we investigated if HCC patients show elevated expression levels of CIN signature genes and how the overall survival of the patients is affected. Moreover, we addressed whether the presence of the CIN signature is associated with increased chromosomal aberrations.