[The preliminary study on the function of methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 2 in hepatocellular carcinoma].

Objective: To investigate the expression of methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 2 (MTHFD2) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and its correlation with clinical parameters.

Method: Fluorogenic quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) was used to measure the MTHFD2 mRNA expression. The MTHFD2 protein expression was detected by immunohistochemical staining in cancerous tissues and adjacent noncancerous counterparts. The relationship of MTHFD2 expression, clinicopathological parameters and the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma was subsequently analysed.

Results: The MTHFD2 mRNA expression in cancerous tissues was higher than that in adjacent noncancerous counterparts (31/47) (P<0.05). The positive rate of MTHFD2 protein in cancerous tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent noncancerous counterparts (69.5% vs. 33.9%) (P<0.05). MTHFD2 overexpression was found to correlate with clinical pathological parameters such as tumor metastasis, recurrence and poor prognosis (P<0.05). The patients with overexpressed MTHFD2 had shorter tumor-free survival time.

Conclusions: Overexpression of MTHFD2 in HCC may be a risk factor of tumor metastasis and recurrence. MTHFD2 could be a new biomarker for prognosis of HCC.