Expression and prognostic significance of the αB-crystallin gene in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Summary The aim of this study was to characterize expression of the α B-crystallin gene in human hepatocellular carcinomas, to investigate the relationship between expression of this gene and the prognosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma. Real-time polymerase chain reaction, reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry were used to characterize expression of the α B-crystallin gene in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analyses were performed to evaluate the prognosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma. We characterized α B-crystallin gene expression in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Statistical analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma patients showed that patients expressing α B-crystallin have different survival rates relative to those not expressing this gene ( P = .041). After 18 months, the survival rate of patients expressing α B-crystallin declined, but survival in the α B-crystallin–negative group remained stable. COX multi-factor analysis showed that α B-crystallin ( P = .007) and venous invasion ( P = .037) were independent prognosis factors for hepatocellular carcinoma. Expression of the α B-crystallin gene, which is related with the transferability and invasive capacity of hepatocellular carcinoma cells, can be used as a prognostic indicator in human hepatocellular carcinomas. It may also be involved in the malignant transformation of hepatocytes.