High GCLC level in tumor tissues is associated with poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma after curative resection

Glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) has been reported to overexpress in a variety types of cancer and be related with tumor progression and drug resistance. However, little has been known about GCLC's prognostic significance and biological roles in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the present study, we evaluated GCLC expression level using immunohistochemical staining (IHC) in tissue microarray (TMA) containing paired tumor and peritumoral liver tissues from 168 patients with HCC who received curative resection. GCLC levels in tumor tissues were significantly higher than in peritumoral liver tissues, and tumor GCLC level was associated with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Five-year OS and DFS rates were 41.15% and 25.88% for the group with high tumor GCLC level, compared with 68.09% and 47.51% for the group with low tumor GCLC level (P