OBJECTIVE: Human U three protein 14a (hUTP14a) facilitates tumorigenesis through promoting p53 and Rb degradation as well as enhancing c-Myc oncogenic activity. Moreover, hUTP14a expression is up-regulated in human hepatocellular cancer and colorectal cancer tissues. In this study, the expression of hUTP14a in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues was evaluated by immunohistochemistry staining (IHC). The relationship between hUTP14a expression levels and the clinical characteristics of the NSCLC patients were analyzed. METHODS: Lung cancer tissues and the adjacent non-cancerous tissues were collected from 123 cases of NSCLC patients including 53 cases of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and 70 cases of adenocarcinoma (ADC), who had accepted surgical resection at Peking University Third Hospital from May 2003 to April 2006. The expression level of hUTP14a was determined by IHC in human NSCLC tissues and the adjacent non-cancerous tissues. The associations between hUTP14a expression and the clinical pathological variables including gender, age, tumor size, histological type, differentiation degree and clinical pathological stage were analyzed using the Pearson's χ² test. RESULTS: The expression rate of hUTP14a in NSCLC tissues was significantly higher than that in the non-cancerous tissues (37.4% vs. 0, P<0.001). The expressions of hUTP14a in lung ADC and SCC were 48.6% and 20.6%, respectively. The expression rate of hUTP14a in both lung ADC and SCC was significantly higher than that in the adjacent non-cancerous tissues (P<0.001). In addition, the expression rate of hUTP14a in lung ADC was significantly higher than that in SCC (χ²=8.66, P=0.003). Furthermore, the expression rate of hUTP14a in the late pTNM stage of SCC was significantly higher than that in the early pTNM stage of SCC while hUTP14a expression level was not associated with pTNM stage of ADC. No correlation was found between hUTP14a expression and the other clinical pathologic features of the patients. CONCLUSION Expression of hUTP14a was up-regulated in NSCLC tissues and was correlated with pTNM stage of SCC, suggesting that hUTP14a might possess a potential as a candidate marker for the early diagnosis screening of NSCLC.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Prognosis ; Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nucleolar/metabolism*

BACKGROUNDHuman U three protein 14a (hUTP14a) promotes p53 degradation. Moreover, hUTP14a expression is upregulated in several types of tumors. However, the expression pattern of hUTP14a in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate hUTP14a expression and its prognostic value in HCC.

METHODSThe hUTP14a expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) in HCC tissue specimens. The correlations between hUTP14a expression and clinicopathological variables were analyzed. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the association between hUTP14a expression and survival. Independent prognostic factors associated with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were analyzed using the Cox proportional-hazards regression model.

RESULTSThe IHC data revealed that the hUTP14a positivity rate in HCC tissue specimens was significantly higher than that in nontumorous tissue specimens (89.9% vs. 72.7%, P < 0.05). The hUTP14a expression was detected in both the nucleolus and the cytoplasm. The positivity rate of nucleolar hUTP14a expression in HCC tissue specimens was higher than that in the nontumorous tissue specimens (29.3% vs. 10.1%, P < 0.05). No significant difference was found between HCC and nontumorous tissue specimens of cytoplasmic hUTP14a expression (60.6% vs. 62.6%, P > 0.05). In addition, no significant correlation was found between nucleolar hUTP14a expression and other clinicopathological variables. The 5-year OS and DFS rates in patients with positive nucleolar hUTP14a expression were significantly lower than those in patients with negative hUTP14a expression (P = 0.004 for OS, P = 0.003 for DFS). Multivariate analysis showed that nucleolar hUTP14a expression was an independent prognostic factor for OS (P = 0.004) and DFS (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONSThe positivity rate of hUTP14a expression was significantly higher in HCC specimens. Positive expression of nucleolar hUTP14a might act as a novel prognostic predictor for patients with HCC.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; genetics ; metabolism ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; metabolism ; mortality ; pathology ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Liver Neoplasms ; metabolism ; mortality ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nucleolar ; genetics ; metabolism