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摘要
<jats:p> e15647 </jats:p><jats:p> Background:Neutral sphingomyelinase 1 (NSMase1) catalyzes sphingomyelin to generate ceramide and mediates tumor cell apoptosis; however, the roles of NSMase1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. This study aims to evaluate the clinical value and prognostic significance of NSMase1 in HCC. Methods:A total of 142 patients who underwent radical hepatectomy were involved in this study. The expression of NSMase1 in HCC tissues and adjacent nontumorous liver tissues (ANLTs) was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, and the association between NSMase1 expression and clinicopathologic features as well as prognosis of HCC patients was analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were applied to identify independent prognostic factors. Results: NSMase1, at both mRNA and protein levels, was significantly decreased in HCC tissues compared to ANLTs. Low NSMase1 expression was associated with tumor size ( P= 0.029), TNM stage ( P= 0.040) and recurrence ( P= 0.006). Statistically, both the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of low NSMase1 expression group were significantly shorter compared with high NSMase1 expression group ( p= 0.001; p= 0.001; respectively). Remarkably, the multivariate analysis showed that the low NSMase1 expression was an independent prognostic factor for OS (hazard ratio = 1.840; 95% confidence interval, 1.178-2.875, P= 0.007) and DFS (hazard ratio = 1.706; 95% confidence interval, 1.096-2.655, P= 0.018) in all enrolled HCC patients. Conclusions: NSMase1 down-regulation might actually serve as an independent prognostic factor for HCC patients. However, the roles of “NSMase1-ceramide” metabolic network in HCC deserve further studies. </jats:p>
