High expression of WISP1 promotes metastasis and predicts poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the expression level of Wnt1-inducible signaling pathway protein 1 (WISP1) and its clinical significance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to detect the expression level of WISP1 in HCC tissues and cells. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard regression model were chosen for single and multiple factor analysis of survival analysis, respectively. Furthermore, wound healing assay and transwell assay were used to verify the effect of WISP1 on HCC cell metastasis in vitro. RESULTS: The expression level of WISP1 in HCC tissues was significantly higher than that in para-cancer tissues (p<0.05). WISP1 expression was positively correlated with lymph node metastasis and clinical stage of HCC. Kaplan-Meier curve showed that HCC patients with higher WISP1 expression exhibited significantly worse progression free survival (PFS) time and overall survival (OS) time. Both univariate and multivariate analysis indicated that high expression of WISP1 was an independent predictor of poor prognosis in HCC. In addition, WISP1 significantly promoted the invasion and migration of HCC cells in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: WISP1 might contribute to the development of HCC, serving as a clinical biomarker and therapeutic target for HCC patients.