Oxytocin receptor genetic alterations in hepatocellular carcinoma.

PURPOSE

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is among the leading causes of cancer-related deaths with a very poor prognosis. Consequently, there is an urgent need for better understanding the molecular mechanisms, novel prognostic biomarkers, and more effective treatment options. There is an emerging link between oxytocin (OXT), the oxytocin receptor (OXTR), and cancer. However, the role of OXT or the OXTR in HCC remains unknown. The research question of this study was: Are there genetic alterations in the oxytocin (OXT) and oxytocin receptor (OXTR) genes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and do these alterations impact overall survival and disease-free survival.

METHODS

In this retrospective study, we reviewed 360 individual HCC patient data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) using cBioPortal accessed in April 2018. The data in The Cancer Genome Atlas are from various institutions in the United States.

RESULTS

We found that 3% (11 of 360) of cases showed genetic alterations in the OXTR gene. The median months survival was lower for HCC cases with genetic alterations in the OXTR gene as compared to cases without genetic alteration in this gene (33.0 versus 60.84, respectively. Additionally, the median months disease-free survival was lower in cases with genetic alterations in the OXTR gene as compared to cases without alterations (8.64 versus 21.55, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

OXTR is a promising prognostic biomarker for HCC, and OXTR antagonists could have a future role as therapeutic agents for a subset of HCC patients. Further study of the detailed molecular mechanisms of OXT and OXTR in HCC is warranted.