Correlation Between Poor Prognosis and Lower TPPP Gene Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background/Aim: Post-resection recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tends to derive from multicentric origins, which indicates that the background liver microenvironment affects carcinogenesis. Materials and Methods: We obtained control liver samples [super normal (SN)] from 11 patients with secondary metastatic liver malignancies and used expression and methylation arrays to compare them with non-cancerous liver tissue from a patient with typical HCC with chronic hepatitis C (corresponding normal (CN)]. Results: The expression array showed that gene expression of tubulin polymerization-promoting protein (TPPP) was lower in CN compared with SN. The methylation array showed a greater TPPP methylation index for CN than for SN. Transcripts of TPPP differed significantly among SN (n=11), CN (n=179), and tumor tissue of HCC (n=179) (median of 116, 4.60, and 2.63, respectively, p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed lower TPPP expression in tumor than in normal tissue (ratio < 0.3, n=57) to independently predict poor overall survival (p=0.031). Conclusion: Significantly lower TPPP expression was found in HCC and CN tissue compared to SN and indicated poor prognosis.