Background and objective: BC047440 is a new gene related to cancer growth and proliferation. Due to the lack of specific antibodies, how BC047440 protein influences the liver cancer growth is unclear. This study aimed to determine the relationship between BC047440 protein expression and clinicopathologic parameters of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to evaluate the prognostic value of BC047440 for HCC patients.
Methods: We prepared the polyclonal antibodies of BC047440, and used Western blot and immunohistochemical staining to detect BC047440 expression in 68 specimens of HCC. The correlations of BC047440 expression to clinicopathologic features and prognosis of HCC patients were analyzed.
Results: The polyclonal antibodies could effectively recognize endogenous BC047440 in HCC tissues. The positive rate of BC047440 protein was significantly higher in HCCs than in adjacent tissues (44.1% vs. 23.5%, P<0.05); the rate was significantly higher in patients with larger tumor (P<0.05) and portal vein invasion (P<0.01). The HCC patients with high BC047440 expression showed a significantly poorer prognosis than those with low BC047440 expression (P<0.05).
Conclusion: BC047440 can promote the growth and invasion of HCC.