Background Liver cancer is a common malignancy and a significant public health problem worldwide, but diagnosis and prognostic evaluation remain challenging for clinicians. Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer, and we therefore examined the diagnostic and prognostic value of a metabolic enzyme, phosphoglucomutase-like protein 5 (PGM5), in liver cancer. Methods All data were from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. R and related statistical packages were used for data analysis. Hepatic PGM5 expression was determined in different groups, and the chi-squared test and Fisher’s exact test were used to determine the significance of differences. The pROC package was used to determine receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, the survival package was used to for survival analysis and development of a Cox multivariable model, and the ggplot2 package was used for data visualization. Results PGM5 expression was significantly lower in cancerous than adjacent normal liver tissues, and had modest diagnostic value based on ROC analysis and calculations of area under the curve (AUC). Hepatic PGM5 expression had positive associations with male sex and survival, but negative associations with advanced histologic type, advanced histologic grade, advanced stage, and advanced T classification. Patents with low PGM5 levels had poorer overall survival and relapse-free survival. PGM5 was independently associated with patient prognosis. Conclusion PGM5 has potential use as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for liver cancer.

Background and Objective Liver cancer is a highly malignant tumor, and patients typically have poor prognoses. Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer, and downregulation of oxoglutarate dehydrogenase-like (OGDHL) contributes to the onset and progression of several cancers. We examined the role of altered OGDHL expression in liver cancer and determined its value as a diagnostic and prognostic indicator for patients. Material and Methods R (version 3.5.1) and several R extensions were used for data mining of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset (including RNAseq and clinical information) and statistical analysis. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to determine the diagnostic value of OGDHL. The chi-squared test was used to identify the clinical correlates of OGDHL downregulation. Survival analysis (with the log-rank test) and univariate and multivariate Cox analysis were used to evaluate the effect of OGDHL expression on overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival. TCGA was used for analysis of gene set enrichment. Results OGDHL had lower expression in cancerous liver tissues than noncancerous adjacent tissues, and low expression correlated with more advanced patient age, histologic grade, stage, T classification, and poor survival. Patients with lower OGDHL expression had shorter OS and relapse-free survival. Multivariate Cox regression indicated that low OGDHL expression was an independent risk factor for poor prognosis. Gene set enrichment analysis indicated enrichment of the mitotic spindle, G2M checkpoint, and E2F targets in the OGDHL low expression phenotype. Conclusion OGDHL has potential as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for liver cancer.

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Background Clinically relevant pancreatic fistula (CRPF) is a serious complication following laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD). This study aimed to determine if C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) serum levels could be used as early biomarkers to predict CRPF after LPD. Methods In this retrospective study, we collected peri-operative data of patients who underwent LPD between January 2019 and November 2019. We compared serum levels of white blood cells (WBC), CRP, and PCT on post-operative days (POD) 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 between the CRPF and non-CRPF groups and analyzed the predictive risk factors for CRPF. Results Among the 186 patients included in this study, 18 patients (9.7%) developed CRPF, including 15 and 3 patients with grade B and C fistulas, respectively. The mean WBC, CRP, and PCT levels were higher on most PODs in the CRPF group compared to the non-CRPF group. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated that CRP levels on POD 2, 5, and 7 can predict CRPF development after LPD, with the area under the curve (AUC) value reaching the highest level on POD 2 (AUC 0.794). PCT levels on POD 2, 3, 5, and 7 were highly predictive of CRPF after LPD. The highest AUC value was achieved on POD 3 [PCT > 2.10 ng/ml (AUC 0.951; sensitivity 88.2%, specificity 92.9%, P < 0.001)]. Conclusions Both CRP and PCT levels can be used to predict CRPF development after LPD, with PCT having a higher predictive value.

Liver cancer is a high morbidity and low survival disease all over the world. Chromosomal instability is hallmark of liver cancer. Microtubule-associated serine and threonine kinase 2 (MAST2), as a microtubule associated protein, may involve in tumorous chromosomal instability and plays important roles in cell proliferation and survival. The role of MAST2 in liver cancer has not been well elucidated, which is the aim of our study. In this study, The Cancer Genome Atlas database was used to study the MAST2 mRNA expression in liver cancer, and Chi-squared tests were performed to test the correlation between clinical features and MAST2 expression. ROC curve was performed to examined the diagnostic capacity. The prognostic value of MAST2 in liver cancer was assessed through Kaplan–Meier curves as well as Cox analysis. Our results showed MAST2 was upregulated in liver cancer, and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.925 and indicated powerful diagnostic capability. High MAST2 expression was associated with advanced clinical status such as histological type (p = 0.0059), histologic grade (p = 0.0142), stage (p = 0.0008), T classification (p = 0.0028), N classification (p = 0.0107), survival status (p = 0.0062), and poor prognosis of patients. Importantly, MAST2 was an independent risk factor for patients’ prognosis after adjusting for other risk factors including stage, T classification, and residual tumor. In total, MAST2 is a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of liver cancer.