High rates of glucose transport via solute carrier (SLC2A, GLUT) family members are required to satisfy the high metabolic demands of cancer cells, and because of this characteristic of cancer cells 2-18fluoro-deoxy-D-glucose (18FDG)-PET has become a powerful diagnostic tool. However, its sensitivity for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is lower than for other malignancies, which suggests SLC2A family members are differentially expressed in HCC. In the present study, the expression patterns of SLC2A family members in tumor tissues and their associations with HCC progression were analyzed using data obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). It was found that the expression of SLC2A2 (GLUT2) was higher in HCC than those of other members of the SLC2A family. The associations of the expression levels of SLC2A family members and previously known prognostic factors with clinical stages were examined using the T-test or the Mann-Whitney U test, and interestingly, SLC2A2 expression was found to be associated with an advanced clinical stage (p = 0.0015). Furthermore, Kaplan-Meier analysis using the log-rank or the Gehan-Breslow-Wilcoxon test showed SLC2A2 expression was positively associated with overall survival (p < 0.001, Gehan-Breslow-Wilcoxon test and p = 0.0145 by multivariate Cox regression). The prognostic significance of SLC2A2 was similar in both early and late stages. However, it was more significant in HCC patients without alcohol consumption history and hepatitis C infection. Taken together, SLC2A2 was associated with clinical stages and independently associated with overall survival in patients with HCC. We suggest that SLC2A2 be considered a new prognostic factor for HCC.

Accurate prediction of prognosis is critical for therapeutic decisions regarding cancer patients. Many previously developed prognostic scoring systems have limitations in reflecting recent progress in the field of cancer biology such as microarray, next-generation sequencing, and signaling pathways. To develop a new prognostic scoring system for cancer patients, we used mRNA expression and clinical data in various independent breast cancer cohorts (n=1214) from the Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium (METABRIC) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). A new prognostic score that reflects gene network inherent in genomic big data was calculated using Network-Regularized high-dimensional Cox-regression (Net-score). We compared its discriminatory power with those of two previously used statistical methods: stepwise variable selection via univariate Cox regression (Uni-score) and Cox regression via Elastic net (Enet-score). The Net scoring system showed better discriminatory power in prediction of disease-specific survival (DSS) than other statistical methods (p=0 in METABRIC training cohort, p=0.000331, 4.58e-06 in two METABRIC validation cohorts) when accuracy was examined by log-rank test. Notably, comparison of C-index and AUC values in receiver operating characteristic analysis at 5 years showed fewer differences between training and validation cohorts with the Net scoring system than other statistical methods, suggesting minimal overfitting. The Net-based scoring system also successfully predicted prognosis in various independent GEO cohorts with high discriminatory power. In conclusion, the Net-based scoring system showed better discriminative power than previous statistical methods in prognostic prediction for breast cancer patients. This new system will mark a new era in prognosis prediction for cancer patients.

Zinc fingers and homeoboxes (ZHX) is a transcription repressor family that contains three members; ZHX1, ZHX2, and ZHX3. Although ZHX family members have been associated with the progression of cancer, their values as prognostic factors in cancer patients have been poorly examined. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a highly heterogeneous, aggressive cancer that responds variably to treatment. Thus, prognostic molecular markers are required to evaluate disease progression and to improve the survival. In clear cell RCC (ccRCC), ZHX1 and ZHX3 expression were found to be down-regulated but ZHX2 was up-regulated, and the expressions of ZHX1 and ZHX3 were significantly associated with pathological stage. Furthermore, Kaplan-Meier and multivariate regression analysis showed that reduction in the mRNA expression of ZHX1 was associated with poorer survival. Taken together, the present study shows loss of ZHX1 is correlated with ccRCC progression and suggests it is an independent prognostic marker in ccRCC.

Zinc-fingers and homeoboxes 1 (ZHX1) is a nuclear transcription repressor and known to be involved in cell differentiation and tumorigenesis. However, the pathophysiological roles of ZHX1 have not been characterized in glioblastoma. We examined ZHX1 expression in glioblastoma patients' tissues and analyzed overall survival of the patients based on expression level of ZHX1. We also examined the effects of ZHX1 on proliferation and motility of glioblastoma cells. In silico analysis and immunohistochemical studies showed that the messenger RNA and protein expressions of ZHX1 were higher in the tissues of glioblastoma patients than in normal brain tissues, and that its overexpression was associated with reduced survival. In vitro, the downregulation of ZHX1 decreased the proliferation, migration, and invasion of glioblastoma cells, whereas its upregulation had the opposite effects. In addition, we showed ZHX1 could contribute to glioblastoma progression via the regulations of TWIST1 and SNAI2. Taken together, this study demonstrates that ZHX1 plays crucial roles in the progression of glioblastoma, and its findings suggest that ZHX1 be viewed as a potential prognostic maker and therapeutic target of glioblastoma.

Zinc-fingers and homeoboxes 1 (ZHX1) is a transcription repressor that has been associated with the progressions of hepatocellular carcinoma, gastric cancer, and breast cancer. However, the functional roles of ZHX1 in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) have not been determined. We investigated the expression and roles of ZHX1 during the proliferation, migration, and invasion of CCA cells. In silico analysis and immunohistochemical studies showed amplification and overexpression of ZHX1 in CCA tissues. Furthermore, ZHX1 knockdown using specific siRNAs decreased CCA cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, whereas ZHX1 overexpression promoted all three characteristics. In addition, results suggested EGR1 might partially mediate the effect of ZHX1 on the proliferation of CCA cells. Taken together, these results show ZHX1 promotes CCA cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and present ZHX1 as a potential target for the treatment of CCA.