Clinicopathological analyses of the differentially expressed ADARs in the Guangzhou cohort of 92 primary hepatocellular carcinoma patients
| Clinical feature | No | Normal ADAR1 and ADAR2 expression (n=18)† | ADAR1 OE or ADAR2 DR (n=34)‡ | ADAR1 OE and ADAR2 DR (n=40)§ | p Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender (n (%)) | |||||
| Female | 19 | 5 (27.8) | 3 (8.9) | 11 (27.5) | |
| Male | 73 | 13 (72.2) | 31 (91.2) | 29 (72.5) | 0.073 |
| Age (years) (n (%)) | |||||
| ≦60 | 74 | 12 (66.7) | 29 (85.3) | 33 (82.5) | |
| >60 | 18 | 6 (33.3) | 5 (14.7) | 7 (17.5) | 0.305 |
| HbsAg¶ (n (%)) | |||||
| Negative | 18 | 6 (33.3) | 6 (19.4) | 6 (15.4) | |
| Positive | 70 | 12 (66.7) | 25 (80.6) | 33 (84.6) | 0.290 |
| Serum AFP (ng/mL)¶ (n (%)) | |||||
| ≤400 | 52 | 11 (64.7) | 22 (71.0) | 19 (48.7) | |
| >400 | 35 | 6 (35.3) | 9 (29.0) | 20 (51.3) | 0.152 |
| Tumour size (cm)¶ (n (%)) | |||||
| ≦5 | 23 | 4 (22.2) | 6 (19.4) | 13 (32.5) | |
| >5 | 66 | 14 (77.8) | 25 (80.6) | 27 (67.5) | 0.421 |
| Cirrhosis¶ (n (%)) | |||||
| Absent | 26 | 10 (55.6) | 9 (30.0) | 7 (17.9) | |
| Present | 61 | 8 (44.4) | 21 (70.0) | 32 (82.1) | 0.016* |
| Cell differentiation¶ (n (%)) | |||||
| Well differentiated (I–II) | 17 | 4 (25.0) | 4 (13.8) | 9 (24.3) | |
| Moderately differentiated (III) | 48 | 7 (43.8) | 19 (65.5) | 22 (59.5) | |
| Poorly differentiated (IV) | 17 | 5 (31.3) | 6 (20.7) | 6 (16.2) | 0.540 |
| Recurrence or metastasis (n (%)) | |||||
| Absent | 47 | 13 (72.2) | 21 (61.8) | 13 (32.5) | |
| Present | 45 | 5 (27.8) | 13 (38.2) | 27 (67.5) | 0.004* |
| Tumour stage (AJCC)¶ (n (%)) | |||||
| Stage I | 60 | 14 (82.4) | 21 (70.0) | 25 (62.5) | |
| Stage II | 20 | 3 (17.6) | 8 (26.7) | 9 (22.5) | |
| Stage III | 7 | 0 (0) | 1 (3.3) | 6 (15.0) | 0.224 |
| Mean DFS (months) | 68.6 (48.3–89.0) | 52.6 (39.0–66.3) | 30.1 (19.3–40.9) | 0.003* | |
*Statistical significance (p<0.05).
†Cases fitting neither of these two criteria are regarded as ‘Normal ADAR1 and ADAR2 expression’: (1) a twofold increase in ADAR1 expression level in tumours; (2) a twofold decrease in ADAR2 expression level in tumours compared with their matched non-tumour liver samples.
‡Cases fitting either one of the two criteria listed above are defined as ‘ADAR1 OE or ADAR2 DR’ (OE, overexpression; DR, downregulation).
§Cases fitting both criteria, as listed above, are classified as ‘ADAR1 OE and ADAR2 DR’ (OE, overexpression; DR, downregulation).
¶Partial data are not available and statistics were based on available data.
ADARs, Adenosine DeAminases that act on RNA; AFP, α fetoprotein; AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; DFS, disease free survival time; HbsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen.