High expression of Sp1 is significantly correlated with tumor progression and poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between specificity protein 1 (Sp1) expression and clinicopathological feature and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We detected Sp1 mRNA and protein expressions in 12 fresh HCC tissues by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blot analysis, respectively. Immunohistochemical assay was performed in 127 paraffin-embedded HCC tissues. The mRNA and protein expressions of Sp1 were significantly higher in HCC tissues than in matched adjacent normal tissues. Sp1 high expression was detected in the cytoplasm and nuclei of carcinoma cells from 68 (53.5%) patients. In addition, high expression of Sp1 was significantly correlated with HBsAg infection (P = 0.036), liver cirrhosis (P = 0.024), tumor differentiation (P = 0.010), vascular invasion (P = 0.035) and metastasis (P = 0.029). Furthermore, Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with high Sp1 expression had significantly lower overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) rates, compared with patients with low Sp1 expression. Sp1 is an independent prognostic factor for HCC patients. In conclusion, Sp1 expression is significantly up-regulated in HCC and could identify a subset of HCC with aggressive clinical behavior and poor clinical outcome. Sp1 is a potential independent prognostic biomarker for HCC patients after surgery.