Co-expression of LASS2 and TGF-β1 predicts poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

Longevity assurance homolog 2 of yeast LAG1 (LASS2) has been reported to act as an important tumor suppressor in the development of human cancers. However, little is known about the prognostic value of LASS2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the present study, we analyzed correlation between LASS2 and TGF-beta 1 levels, and evaluated their prognostic values in HCC patients. We first analyzed the expression of LASS2 and TGF-beta 1 in two independent cohorts (test cohort: 184 HCC patients; validation cohort: 118 HCC patients) using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analyses were executed to evaluate the prognosis of HCC. The results of IHC analysis revealed a positive correlation between the expression of LASS2 and TGF-beta 1. HCC Patients with low expression of LASS2 and TGF-beta 1 had shorter overall survival (OS) and time to recurrence (TTR) than patients with high expression of LASS2 and TGF-beta 1. Furthermore, combination of LASS2 and TGF-beta 1 was an independent and significant risk factor for OS and TTR. In conclusion, low expression of LASS2 and TGF-beta 1 contributes to the aggressiveness and poor prognosis of HCC, and may represent a novel prognostic biomarker for HCC patients.