Differential expression of microRNAs in plasma of patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma: potential early-detection markers for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Abnormal expression of PLAG1 in plasma of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To investigate the abnormal expression of pleomorphic adenoma gene 1 (PLAG1) in plasma of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to analyze its clinical significance.

METHODS: Plasma samples were collected from 42 HCC patients, 34 liver cirrhosis patients and 30 healthy donors. The mRNA expression levels of PLAG1 were quantified by SYBR Green I real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. The correlation between clinicopathologic characteristics of HCC and expression of PLAG1 was evaluated.

RESULTS: The positive rate of PLAG1 mRNA in the HCC group, liver cirrhosis group, and healthy control group were 71.4%, 23.5% and 6.7%, respectively. PLAG1 mRNA expression level in the HCC group was significantly higher than those in other two groups (P < 0.05 for both). However, no significant difference was found between the liver cirrhosis group and healthy control group (P > 0.05). Significant difference in quantitative data from SYBR Green I real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was also found among the three groups (P < 0.05). PLAG1 mRNA expression level in HCC patients was significantly correlated with pathological grade and tumor metastasis (P < 0.05 for both).

CONCLUSION: The expression level of PLAG1 mRNA in plasma of HCC patients may play a significant role in the pathogenesis and development of HCC, and it may serve as a novel tumor marker for diagnosis and metastasis of HCC.