Up-regulation of dbpA mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma associated with metabolic syndrome

Purpose Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a group of recognized risk factors for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic liver disease. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinicopathological characteristics of HCC patients with MS and the risk factors for recurrence. Also, the aim was to investigate the cold shock protein: DNA-binding protein A (dbpA) expression in HCC patients with MS. Methods A total of 243 patients who underwent curative resections for HCC were classified into two groups. dbpA expression was investigated in 66 HCC patients with MS and in 30 patients without MS by using real-time RT-PCR. Promoter methylation status was examined by using MS-PCR. Results The incidence of metabolic factors affect the HCC significantly higher in non-B non-C patients than in hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients ( P