Bcl-2 expression is a poor predictor for hepatocellular carcinoma prognosis of andropause-age patients

Abstract

Objective: The expression of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) seems to be influenced by the endocrine environment. Numerous reports demonstrate the diverse expression of Bcl-2 family members under sex steroid regulation. With the exception of estrogen-related tumors, androgen-related tumors have shown their characteristics in Bcl-2 expression. In this study, the status of Bcl-2 expression in male hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients was examined to verify the high incidence of HCC in males.Methods: Tumor tissue microarray was used to examine Bcl-2 expression levels in 374 HCC cases including 306 males and 68 females. Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazards model were applied to investigate the predictive value of Bcl-2 in HCC patients.Results: Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that male patients with higher Bcl-2 levels had significantly longer median survival time and recurrence time than those with lower levels. However, no significant differences in outcomes were found between different Bcl-2 levels in female patients. When the male patients were stratified into several age points, the level of Bcl-2 expression showed poorer predictive efficiency in the 45–49 and 55–60 age groups in andropause-age patients compared with other age groups. Bcl-2 was an independent prognostic factor for both overall survival (P < 0.0001) and recurrence time (P = 0.0001) in male patients. After excluding male patients in the 45–60 age group, the predictive efficiency was enhanced (n = 147, OS, P = 0.0002, TTR, P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Bcl-2 expression is an independent predictor of survival and recurrence in male HCC. Bcl-2 levels may also be regulated by androgens or androgen receptors in male HCC patients. Bcl-2 levels change and exhibit poor predictive efficiency when androgen levels vary dramatically (andropause age).

Obatoclax, the pan-Bcl-2 inhibitor sensitizes hepatocellular carcinoma cells to promote the anti-tumor efficacy in combination with immune checkpoint blockade

“…Zhang et al. found that in andropause-age patients, Bcl-2 expression served as a poor predictor for HCC prognosis [14] . Zhou et al.…”

Role of chemokines in hepatocellular carcinoma (Review)

“…Most patients cannot undergo radical surgery due to the presence of intrahepatic or distant organ metastases, and at present, the primary treatment methods for HCC include surgery, local ablation therapy and radiation intervention ( 2 ). These methods allow for effective treatment and management of patients with HCC during the early stages, with 5-year survival rates as high as 70% ( 3 ). Despite the continuous development of traditional treatment methods, the issue of recurrence and metastasis of HCC, causing adverse effects to the survival and prognosis of patients, remains a notable challenge.…”

Erratum to Bcl-2 expression is a poor predictor for hepatocellular carcinoma prognosis of andropause-age patients

“…In the published article 1 , errors appeared in the figure legend on page 462. The corrected figure legend is reproduced here.…”