Background: EIF3S3 that encodes a p40 subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 3 (eIF3), has been reported overexpression in several human malignancies. The expression of EIF3S3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its clinical role in the disease progression is still unclear. Here we aimed to study the effect of EIF3S3 on HCC prognosis.
Methods: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain-reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to assess the mRNA levels of EIF3S3 in 120 HCC tissues samples and 60 adjacent noncancerous specimens. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analysis was used to study the prognostic value of EIF3S3.
Results: The expression of EIF3S3 was significantly increased in HCC compared to the expression found in adjacent tissues (P<0.001). Furthermore, high EIF3S3 expression was positively correlated with vascular invasion, tumor size, cirrhosis, AFP levels and TNM stage (all P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with high EIF3S3 expression had worse overall survival (OS) (P<0.001) and disease-free survival (DFS) (P<0.001) than those with low EIF3S3 expression. In addition, multivariable analysis revealed that EIF3S3 could be an independent prognostic factor of OS (P<0.001) and DFS (P<0.001) for patients with HCC.
Conclusion: The results suggested that EIF3S3 might serve as a promising prognostic factor for OS and DFS of HCC patients.