CENPA and IQGAP3 Identified as Ideal Early-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma Markers

Abstract

Abstract Backgrounds: Hepatocellular carcinoma is a type of liver cancer that has a high mortality rate and there is an urgently need to improve the prognosis and survival rates for patients with this disease. However, reliable prognostic or therapeutic markers for HCC is limited. Results Here, we conducted a gene expression analysis to identify candidate biomarkers that are highly expressed in tumor tissues but barely detectable in normal tissues. Among the 33 candidate genes identified, 14 were found to be significantly associated with patient survival. Further analysis revealed two highly sensitive and specific biomarkers, CENPA and IQGAP3, which were virtually undetectable in normal liver tissue but highly detectable in liver tumor tissue at both the protein and mRNA levels. Notably, they were all regulated by DNA methylation. Based on these findings, we established a new clinical classification method for hepatocellular carcinoma, which accurately stratifies patients into early or advanced stage tumors. Conclusions Our study not only identifies novel molecular markers for hepatocellular carcinoma, but also provides a promising approach for improving the diagnosis and treatment of this devastating disease.