PKM2 upregulation promotes malignancy and indicates poor prognosis for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

•I wish to submit an original article for publication in Clinics and Research in Hepatology and Gastroenterology, titled “PKM2 upregulation diminishes malignancy and indicates good prognosis for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma”.•Although pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) has been shown to be among the crucial enzymes that regulate aerobic glycolysis in multiple tumor cells, its role in the treatment and prognosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) remains unclear. This study aimed to determine whether the expression status of PKM2 is potentially associated with the clinical outcomes of ICC. We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature because we provide clinical evidence of the impact of PKM2 in ICC, the oncogenesis of which is poorly understood. Our findings can help clinicians further understand the critical role of PKM2 in cancer cell growth that makes it a therapeutic target to improve patient prognosis.•Further, we believe that this paper will be of interest to the readership of your journal because our findings can be helpful in the development of novel molecular targets for ICC therapy.•This manuscript has not been published or presented elsewhere in part or in entirety and is not under consideration by another journal. All authors have contributed to, read and approved the final manuscript for submission. All study participants provided informed consent, and the study design was approved by the appropriate ethics review board. Although pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) has been shown to be among the crucial enzymes that regulate aerobic glycolysis in multiple tumour cells, its role in the treatment and prognosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) remains unclear. This study primarily aimed to determine whether the expression status of PKM2 is potentially associated with the clinical outcomes of ICC. PKM2 expression was evaluated in ICC cell lines and tissues via real-time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescence assays, and Western blot, and its prognostic value was determined according to its impact on the overall survival of patients. We found that PKM2 is highly expressed in ICC, and this was correlated with patient survival. Moreover, we found that PKM2 knockdown could considerably inhibit ICC cell proliferation, invasion, and migration in vitro. PKM2 was overexpressed in ICC, and it may regulate proliferation, invasion, and migration and lead to poor prognosis. Thus, PKM2 migh