Ages of hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence and life expectancy are associated with a UGT2B28 genomic variation

Abstract

Abstract Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive solid tumor. HCC occurred at younger and elder ages were considered driven by different oncogenic mechanisms, and they demonstrated distinct clinical courses. Methods A total of 382 HCC patients treated by surgical resections was analyzed. Results A univariate-multivariate analysis showed that viral etiology (chronic hepatitis B, C) and the UDP glucuronosyltransferase family 2 member B28 (UGT2B28) genomic variant rs2132039 were independently associated with the age at presentation of HCC (all adjusted P < 0.05). An extensive evaluations of clinicalpathological factors showed that the age (Odds ratio [OR], 1.016; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.001–1.032; adjusted P = 0.037) and ascites (OR, 3.505; CI, 1.358–9.048; adjusted P = 0.010) were two independent factors associated with this genomic variant. The age was 54.1 ± 14.6 years for patients with the “TT” variant type, and 58.2 ± 13.7 years for those with the “Non-TT” variant type. The age disparity was most prominent in alcoholic patients (OR, 1.079; CI, 1.035–1.125; P < 0.001, age of “TT”, 49.6 ± 12.2; age of “non-TT”, 59.3 ± 10.7). This genomic variant was also associated with age of recurrence (P = 0.025), distant metastasis (P = 0.024) and HCC-related death (P = 0.008) in non-censored patients. Conclusions An UGT2B28 genomic variant was indicative of the age of HCC presentation, recurrence, distant metastasis and death.