ABSTRACT
Objective This study is to explore the expression of CIP2A mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and its correlations with clinicopathologic features and prognosis of HCC patients.Methods CIP2A mRNA expression was analyzed in four liver cancer cell lines (Hep-G2, MHCC97,SMMC-7721 and BEI-7402), one immortalized liver cell line L-O2, neoplastic tissues and adjacent matched non-neoplastic liver tissues in 120 HCC patients and normal liver tissues of 20 cases using semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The correlations between CIP2A mRNA and clinicopathologic features and prognosis of HCC were analyzed. Results CIP2A mRNA was detected in Hep-G2, MHCC-97H, SMMC-7721 and BEL-7402, but not in L-O2.The positive rate of CIP2A mRNA expression was significantly increased in HCC tissues (78.3%)than in adjacent matched non-neoplastic liver tissues (28.3%) and normal liver tissues (5.0%,P＜0. 01). CIP2A mRNA expression was correlated with tumor size, differentiation and TNM stage (P＜0.05). Patients with positive expression of CIP2A mRNA had lower overall survival and diseasefree survival rates. Conclusions CIP2A mRNA, which is highly expressed in liver cancer cell lines and HCC tissues, may be involved in hepatocarcinogenesis. CIP2A mRNA may be a valuable biomarker for assessing the prognosis of HCC.