RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Preoperative Serum Methylation Signature as Prognostic Tool After Curative Hepatectomy in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma JF Anticancer Research JO Anticancer Res FD International Institute of Anticancer Research SP 997 OP 1007 VO 35 IS 2 A1 SHINSUKE KANEKIYO A1 NORIO IIZUKA A1 RYOICHI TSUNEDOMI A1 YUKIO TOKUMITSU A1 NORIAKI HASHIMOTO A1 YOSHIHIRO TOKUHISA A1 YOSHINARI MAEDA A1 MICHIHISA IIDA A1 KAZUHIKO SAKAMOTO A1 TAKAO TAMESA A1 YUSUKE FUJITA A1 SHIGEFUMI YOSHINO A1 SHOICHI HAZAMA A1 YOSHIHIKO HAMAMOTO A1 MASAAKI OKA YR 2015 UL http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/35/2/997.abstract AB Aim: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between prognosis after curative hepatectomy and serum methylation signature (SMS), defined by methylation levels of six specific genes (cyclin D2, Ras association (RalGDS/AF-6) domain family member 1, serine peptidase inhibitor Kunitz type 2, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, brain abundant membrane attached signal protein 1, and steroid-5-alpha-reductase alpha polypeptide 2). Patients and Methods: Serum samples were collected preoperatively from 125 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma associated with hepatitis C virus infection who underwent curative hepatectomy. We measured the methylation levels of the preceding six genes. We defined the methylation of three genes or more in the serum as SMS-positive in this study. We investigated the prognosis of SMS-positive patients. Results: SMS-positive patients exhibited significantly shorter disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) than SMS-negative patients (p=0.0002 and p<0.0001, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that SMS positivity was an independent risk factor for shorter DFS (hazard ratio (HR)=2.182; p<0.001) and OS (HR=4.198; p<0.001). Conclusion: SMS is useful as a prognostic predictor in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after curative hepatectomy.