Expression tendency and prognostic value of TCF21 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Transcription factor 21 (TCF21) is identified as a tumor suppressor in a variety of human tumors. The purpose of the study was to examine its expression tendency and prognostic value in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: Relative expression of TCF21 mRNA in tissue samples from HCC patients and healthy volunteers were detected through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) while its protein level was examined via immunohistochemistry analysis. Chi-square test was adopted to assess the association of TCF21 expression with the clinicopathological characteristic of the patients. Then Kaplan–Meier analysis was employed to analyze the function of TCF21 expression on overall survival among HCC patients. Results: Both the mRNA and protein levels of TCF21 were significantly reduced in HCC tissue samples compared with healthy controls (p