Higher tumour EZH2 tracks portal-vein invasion in HCC
In 66 resected HCC tumours, EZH2 mRNA was higher than in paired nontumour liver and high expression associated with portal-vein invasion (79% vs 39%), without a significant disease-free survival difference.
Source
Clinicopathological significance of EZH2 mRNA expression in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cohort — Surgical HCC series; tumour vs nontumour EZH2 mRNA by RT-PCR
- N
- N=66 · Median-split high vs low tumour expression (n=33 each)
- Population
- Surgical hepatocellular carcinoma patients with tumour and matched nontumour liver
- Outcome
- EZH2 expression vs portal-vein invasion and disease-free survival
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What they did
Authors quantified EZH2 mRNA by real-time RT-PCR in tumour and matched nontumour liver from 66 surgical HCC patients, split tumours at the median into high vs low expression (n=33 each), and correlated expression with clinicopathological features and disease-free survival.
What they found
Mean tumour EZH2 (0.34±0.52) exceeded nontumour levels (0.07±0.09, P<0.0001). Portal-vein invasion was more common in the high-expression group (26/33, 79%) than the low-expression group (13/33, 39%; P<0.001). Disease-free survival did not differ significantly between groups. Authors conclude EZH2 upregulation may mark malignant potential, especially vascular invasion.
The limits
What it doesn't show
No significant DFS difference means EZH2 here is not a proven survival biomarker in this cohort. Association with portal-vein invasion is clinicopathological, not proof that lowering EZH2 prevents invasion. Sample is a single-centre surgical series.
Key terms
- EZH2
- Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 — a Polycomb methyltransferase whose mRNA was quantified in HCC tumours.
- Portal vein invasion
- Cancer cell invasion into the portal vein — the clinicopathological feature linked to high EZH2 here.
- Real-time RT-PCR
- Quantitative reverse transcription PCR used to measure EZH2 normalised to GAPDH.
- High vs low expression
- Median split of tumour EZH2 at 0.14 into n=33 groups.
- Disease-free survival
- Time without recurrence after surgery — not significantly different by EZH2 group here.
Flashcards
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Quiz yourself
What did high tumour EZH2 associate with here?
Common questions
How many patients were studied?
66 surgical patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
Was EZH2 higher in tumour than nontumour liver?
Yes — mean tumour expression 0.34±0.52 vs 0.07±0.09 in matched nontumour tissue (P<0.0001).
What clinicopathological feature tracked high EZH2?
Portal-vein invasion (79% high vs 39% low, P<0.001).
Did high EZH2 predict worse disease-free survival?
Not in this cohort — DFS did not differ significantly between high and low groups.
What do authors conclude?
EZH2 upregulation may indicate malignant potential of HCC, especially via portal-vein invasion.
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