Prognostic values of ALDOB expression and 18 F-FDG PET/CT in hepatocellular carcinoma

The glycolytic enzyme fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase B (ALDOB) is aberrantly expressed and impacts the prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatic ALDOB loss leads to paradoxical upregulation of glucose metabolism, favoring hepatocellular carcinogenesis. Nevertheless, the relationship between ALDOB expression and F-fluorodeoxyglucose ( F-FDG) uptake, and their effects on HCC prognosis remain unclear. We evaluated whether ALDOB expression is associated with F-FDG uptake and their impacts on HCC prognosis prediction. Changes in ALDOB expression levels and the prognostic values in HCC were analyzed using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Ultimately, 34 patients with HCC who underwent F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) preoperatively were enrolled in this retrospective study. ALDOB expression was determined using immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining, and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of HCC was calculated from the F-FDG PET/CT scans. The relationship between ALDOB expression and SUVmax was examined, and their impacts on overall survival were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards models and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. ALDOB overexpression in HUH7 and 7721 cells was used to analyze its role in tumor metabolism. According to TCGA database, the ALDOB mRNA level was downregulated in HCC compared to normal tissue, and significantly shortened overall survival in HCC patients. ALDOB protein expression was similarly decreased in IHC findings in HCC than that in adjacent normal tissues (P