Clinical and Prognostic Values of DNMT3B Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

DNA methyltransferase 3B (DNMT3B), one of DNA methyltransferases has many roles in DNA methylation and cancer pathogenesis. However, its clinical and prognostic value was not studied in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we analyzed DNMT3B expression in HCC by public big data, The Cancer Genome Atlas. Primary data about total 360 HCC were downloaded and its clinicopathological implication was analyzed. M stage (p = 0.07) and pathologic stage (p = 0.04) were associated with DNMT3B expression, though M stage did not get a statistical significance. And alpha fetoprotein level was positively correlated with DNMT3B expression (p < 0.001). Higher DNMT3B expression predicted shorter overall survival in HCC patients (p < 0.05). Disease-free survival was shorter in HCC with lower DNMT3B expression, within borderline statistical significance (p = 0.081). It suggested that DNMT3B expression may have an important role in HCC prognosis and its detail mechanism should be confirmed further.