APOBEC3G expression is correlated with poor prognosis in colon carcinoma patients with hepatic metastasis

Increased expression of apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide-like 3G (APOBEC3G) in human primary colorectal tumors and hepatic metastasis has been detected. However, the clinical relevance of APOBEC3G in colon carcinoma hepatic metastasis remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic value of APOBEC3G in colon carcinoma patients with hepatic metastasis after hepatic resection. APOBEC3G expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in paraffin-embedded primary colon carcinoma and paired hepatic metastasis tissues from 136 patients with liver metastasis from colon carcinoma that underwent hepatic resection. The relation between APOBEC3G expression and clinicopathologic factors and long-term prognosis in these 136 patients was retrospectively examined. The prognostic significance of negative or positive APOBEC3G expression in colon carcinoma hepatic metastasis was assessed using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and log-rank tests. Positive expression of APOBEC3G was correlated with liver metastasis of colon cancer. Univariate analysis indicated significantly worse overall survival (OS) for patients with a positive APOBEC3G expression in colon carcinoma hepatic metastasis than for patients with a negative APOBEC3G expression. Multivariate analysis showed positive-APOBEC3G in colon carcinoma hepatic metastasis to be an independent prognostic factor for OS after hepatic resection (P = 0.000). Positive expression of APOBEC3G was statistically significantly associated with poor prognosis of colon carcinoma patients with hepatic metastasis. APOBEC3G could be a novel predictor for poor prognosis of colon carcinoma patients with hepatic metastasis after hepatic resection.