Translational Research of SOX4 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Clinical Trial
Official title:
SOX4 Activates CXCL12 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells to Modulate Endothelial Cell Migration and Angiogenesis in Vivo
Two hundred HCC patients with partial hepatectomy were enrolled as a cohort for observational study. The inclusion criterion was intended curative hepatectomy for HCC patients by image analysis, and the exclusion criteria were unresectable disease, synchronous cancers, recurrent cancers, or distant metastasis. The study endpoint was 30 March 2019, and tumor staging was based on the 8th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM staging system for HCC
To determine the role of SOX4 in tumor progression in patients with HCC, we examined SOX4
expression through immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of 200 formalin-fixed and
paraffin-embedded (FFPE) HCC specimens . The SOX4 high group of patients was associated with
positive etiology of hepatitis B virus (P = 0.044), tumor size >5 cm (P = 0.014), thrombus
formation (P = 0.012), higher microvessel density (MVD) (P = 0.012) in tumor lesions, and
distant metastasis (P <0.001).
Cox regression analysis showed that patients with elderly age (P <0.001), higher ⍺-fetal
protein (AFP) (P = 0.045), presence of cirrhosis (P = 0.008), and SOX4 high in tumor specimen
(P = 0.042) were independent risk factors . The SOX4 high group performed significantly worse
regarding overall survival (OS) (P = 0.043) and disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.019) based
on the Kaplan-Meier analysis.
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