Association between Higher Expression of Vav1 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Unfavourable Clinicopathological Features and Prognosis.
Weikang Ye, Jin Wang, Jie Zheng, Ming Jiang, Yinong Zhou, Zhixiang Wu
Author Information
Weikang Ye: Department of General Surgery, The Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou People's Hospital, Quzhou, Zhejiang 324000, China.
Jin Wang: Department of General Surgery, The Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou People's Hospital, Quzhou, Zhejiang 324000, China.
Jie Zheng: Department of General Surgery, The Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou People's Hospital, Quzhou, Zhejiang 324000, China.
Ming Jiang: Department of General Surgery, The Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou People's Hospital, Quzhou, Zhejiang 324000, China.
Yinong Zhou: Department of General Surgery, The Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou People's Hospital, Quzhou, Zhejiang 324000, China.
Zhixiang Wu: Department of Emergency Surgery, The Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou People's Hospital, Quzhou, Zhejiang 324000, China.
OBJECTIVE: The aim was to investigate the potential relationship between Vav1 protein and prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Samples were collected from 96 patients with HCC. For each patient, cancerous tissue and adjacent non-cancerous tissue were obtained. The Vav1 expression levels in these tissues were determined using immunohistochemistry. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to analyse the associations between Vav1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics. Kaplan- Meier analysis was used to assess the relationship between Vav1 expression and 5-year overall survival (OS). RESULTS: The expression level of Vav1 protein in primary tumour samples (64.46%; 59/96) was higher (33.33%; 32/96; P<0.001). Moreover, the high expression rate of Vav1 was correlated with tumour differentiation, TNM stage, and tumour recurrence (P<0.05). Univariate and multivariate Cox analysis further demonstrated that tumour differentiation, TNM stage, vascular invasion, tumour recurrence and Vav1 expression were independent prognostic factors for 5-year OS. Notably, follow-up analysis determined that patients with HCC with higher Vav1 expression levels have lower survival rates (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Vav1 may serve as a promising molecular prognostic biomarker for patients diagnosed with HCC.
