Overexpression of predicts poor prognosis in patients with cholangiocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND

With the feature of destructive and biliary malignancy, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), presents unclear molecular mechanisms which contributes to typically poor prognosis for patients. () is a gene that encodes for a seizure-associated protein localized on the cell surface. Thus far, the function of in ICC has not been reported.

METHODS

We used data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and the Gene Expression Omnibus to analyze dynamics behind and levels of expression of in ICC. Then we used qRT-PCR and Immunohistochemical staining to detect levels of expression of and thereby determined the potential clinical significance of this protein in ICC.

RESULTS

According to qRT-PCR and immunohistochemical analysis results, was overexpressed in ICC. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard analyses indicated that patients afflicted by ICC with high levels of relative expression of have a poorer prognosis and that may be an independent prognostic factor which enables to the accurate prediction of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survivals' (DFS) expected rates. Subcutaneous xenograft models used to explore the role of in tumor formation in vivo. The dynamics of the gene being promote angiogenesis in cholangiocarcinoma are related to increasing expressive growth factors which include , , and the activation of the pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that can serve as an advanced biomarker that can be used to accurately predict a patient prognosis and be used as a target for ICC treatment.