Up-regulation of SET nuclear proto-oncogene is associated with early recurrence and poorer prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Overview: Hepatocellular carcinoma is a complex disease and has a high mortality rate. Identifying biomarkers that can use to diagnose early and prognosis of HCC is essential to reduce the burden of HCC on patients, families, and society. Methods: The bioinformatics methods were used to study the expression of the SET nuclear proto-oncogene gene in cells, tissues, and the correlation of SET with hepatocellular carcinoma. The data from the open databases were used in this study include COMPARTMENTS, Kaplan-Meier Plotter, STRING, TIMER, UALCAN, The Cancer Genome Atlas database, and Gene Expression Omnibus. Results: At the cellular level, the expression level of the SET gene was highest in the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, cytosol. The SET gene's mRNA expression appeared in all body tissues. The TPM median of the SET gene in liver tissue was 33.42. The expression level of SET in hepatocellular carcinoma tissue was higher than that in non-cancer tissue for both males and females. The SET gene is an independent factor for the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC. Patients with high SET expression have a short survival time and a higher rate of recurrence than patients with low SET expression. The SET expression has a significant correlation with B cells, CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and especially dendritic cells in hepatocellular carcinoma. Conclusion: High expression level of SET related to a poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. This study demonstrates that the SET is a potential biomarker for early diagnosis and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.