Serum STIP1, a Novel Indicator for Microvascular Invasion, Predicts Outcomes and Treatment Response in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Previous studies reported that stress-induced phosphoprotein 1 (STIP1) can be secreted by hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and is increased in the serum of HCC patients. However, the therapy-monitoring and prognostic value of serum STIP1 in HCC remains unclear. Here, we aimed to systemically explore the prognostic significance of serum STIP1 in HCC. Methods: A total of 340 HCC patients were recruited to this study; 161 underwent curative resection and 179 underwent transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Serum STIP1 was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Optimal cutoff values for serum STIP1 in resection and TACE groups were determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Prognostic value was assessed by Kaplan-Meier, log-rank, and Cox regression analyses. Predictive values of STIP1 for objective response (OR) to TACE and MVI were evaluated by ROC curves and logistic regression. Results: Serum STIP1 was significantly increased in HCC patients when compared with chronic hepatitis B patients or health donors (both P <0.05). Optimal cutoff values for STIP1 in resection and TACE groups were 83.43 and 112.06 ng/ml, respectively. High pretreatment STIP1 was identified as an independent prognosticator. Dynamic changes in high STIP1 status were significantly associated with long-term prognosis, regardless of treatment approaches. Moreover, post-TACE STIP1 was identified as an independent predictor for OR, with a higher area under ROC curve (AUC-ROC) than other clinicopathological features. Specifically, pretreatment STIP1 was significantly increased in patients with microvascular invasion (MVI), and was confirmed as a novel, powerful predictor for MVI. Conclusions: Serum STIP1 is a promising biomarker for outcome evaluation, therapeutic response assessment, and MVI prediction in HCC. Integration serum STIP1 detection into HCC management might facilitate early clinical decision making to improve the prognosis of HCC.

Potential lncRNA Biomarkers for HBV-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma Diagnosis Revealed by Analysis on Coexpression Network

“…Given the lack of distinct clinical manifestations, most diagnosed HBV-linked HCC patients are in the advanced stage and have a poor prognosis. Although some serum biomarkers for early diagnosis have been reported in the literature, the results were not very satisfactory [5][6][7]. Therefore, finding new molecular markers for the early diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic evaluation of HBV-related HCC is urgently required.…”

The predictive role of preoperative serum glutamate dehydrogenase levels in microvascular invasion and hepatocellular carcinoma prognosis following liver transplantation—a single center retrospective study

“…However, MVI is usually difficult to assay before surgery because it depends on pathological examination. Therefore, the development of a noninvasive method that can accurately identify MVI preoperatively has become a research hotspot ( Xu et al, 2019 ; Ma et al, 2020 ).…”

Identifying a Six-Gene Signature Predicting Response to TACE in Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Bioinformatics Analysis

“…For example, Mao et al found that ASPP2 expression in cancer tissue following TACE is an independent risk factor for HCC recurrence as well as overall survival [9]. Ma et al demonstrated serum STIP1 is a promising biomarker for outcome evaluation, therapeutic response assessment, and microvascular invasion prediction in HCC following TACE [10]. Given this, screening reliable and novel biomarkers for predicting HCC response to TACE treatment is an urgent clinical need.…”