C14orf166 Is a Biomarker for Predicting Hepatocellular Carcinoma Recurrence

Aim: Chromosome 14 open reading frame 166 (C14orf166) acts as a transcriptional repressor and is correlated with centrosome architecture manipulation. Nevertheless, the function of C14orf166 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the role C14orf166 plays in HCC and further compared the prognostic value of C14orf166 with that of clinicopathological features. Methods: C14orf166 expression was evaluated in a human liver cell line, HCC cell lines, HCC tissues and adjacent noncancerous liver tissues with qRT-PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. Patients were divided into two different groups according to C14orf166 level. The relationship between C14orf166 expression and clinicopathological features was assessed by Pearson chi-squared test and receiver operating characteristic curves. Cumulative disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) curves were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: C14orf166 mRNA and protein expression is upregulated in HCC cell lines and tissues. The level of C14orf166 was correlated with serum alpha-fetoprotein level, lymph node metastasis, tumor size and recurrence, with high C14orf166 expression correlating with high HCC recurrence risk. The poor OS and DFS of HCC patients are partly due to the persistently high HCC recurrence risk. When combined with serum alpha-fetoprotein level, the predictive accuracy of C14orf166 for HCC recurrence was enhanced (AUC = 0.712, 95% CI 0.603-0.821; p = 0.001). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that C14orf166 is a high-risk biomarker and predictive factor for HCC recurrence, providing information for the selection of appropriate treatment strategies.