RESUMO
AIM:To investigate the expression of CUE domain-containing 2 (CUEDC2) in hepatocellular car-cinoma ( HCC) and to analyze its clinical prognostic significance .METHODS:Total 186 formalin-fixed paraffin-embed-ded tissues obtained from surgical HCC with detailed clinicopathological and follow -up data were used .The expression of CUEDC2 was detected by immunohistochemistry .The relationships between the expression of CUEDC 2 and clinicopatholog-ical characteristics and prognosis were analyzed .RESULTS: The positive rate of CUEDC 2 in HCC was 85.5% ( 159/186), among which, the low expression was 52.2%(97/186) and the high expression was 47.8%(89/186).CUEDC2 expression was correlated with serum alpha-fetal protein (AFP) level, tumor size, tumor number, tumor differentiation and TNM stage (P<0.05).Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that the patients with high expression of CUEDC 2 were asso-ciated with significantly shorter overall survival and recurrence-free survival than those with low CUEDC 2 expression ( P<0.05).Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed 3 independent prognostic factors including CUEDC 2 expression, ser-um AFP and tumor number .CONCLUSION:CUEDC2 was expressed in most HCC tissues , which was relevant to tumor growth, tumor differentiation and prognosis .CUEDC2 could be a novel valuable molecular marker to predict the HCC prog-nosis.