Prognostic significance of Nemo-like kinase expression in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

• DOI: 10.1007/s13277-015-3609-6
• Publication Date: 2015-05-28T21:46:20Z
• Authors: Hong-Wei Chen; Hong-Ying Qiao; Hong-Chen Li; Zong-Feng Li; Hong-Juan Zhang; Liu Pei; Hong-Wei Liu; Liang Jin; Dong Wang; Jun-Liang Li
• Keywords: Adult; Male; 0303 health sciences; Liver Neoplasms; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Middle Aged; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; Prognosis; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; 03 medical and health sciences; Cell Line, Tumor; Biomarkers, Tumor; Humans; Female; Aged; Cell Proliferation

Nemo-like kinase (NLK) is an evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine protein kinase and belongs to the extracellular signal-regulated kinases/microtubule-associated protein kinase families (Erks/MAPKs). Previous studies have indicated that abnormal expressions of NLK played critical roles in various types of human cancers. Recent studies suggested that NLK expression was significantly upregulated in the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) specimens. However, the clinical significance of NLK expression in HCC remains largely unknown. In this study, we focused on the clinical significance of NLK in HCC and found that high expression of NLK was significantly associated with Edmondson-Steiner grade (P = 0.002), tumor size (P = 0.022), and no. of tumor nodules (P < 0.001), and NLK was positively correlated with proliferation marker Ki-67 (P < 0.01). Univariate analysis suggested that NLK expression was associated with poor prognosis (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated that NLK expression was an independent prognostic indicator for HCC (P = 0.0370). In conclusion, NLK overexpression is associated with poor overall survival in patients with HCC, it might be an independent poor prognostic marker for HCC.