Expression of SLC17A9 in hepatocellular carcinoma and its clinical significance

The present study aimed to investigate the expression and clinical significance of solute carrier family 17 member 9 (SLC17A9) in cancer tissues of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Ninety-eight patients with HCC were admitted to our hospital from January 2010 to December 2014. Their clinical data was retrospectively analyzed. The expression of SLC17A9 in HCC cancer tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry. Kaplan-Meier curve, log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model analysis were used to analyze the tumor-free survival rate and overall survival rate. SLC17A9 expression was associated with Edmondson grade (P=0.04) and distant metastasis (P=0.03). The tumor-free survival (P=0.03) and overall survival (P=0.01) of SLC17A9-high expression patients were significantly lower than those in SLC17A9-low expression patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that SLC17A9 expression (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.27-2.47, P=0.02) was an independent risk factor for tumor-free survival in patients with HCC, and the expression of SLC17A9 (HR, 1.81; 95% CI, 0.99-3.77, P=0.04) was an independent risk factor for overall survival in patients with HCC. In conclusion, SLC17A9 can be used as a new molecular marker to predict the poor prognosis of patients with HCC. Key words: hepatocellular carcinoma, prognosis, molecular marker, SLC17A9, immunohistochemistry