Author information
1Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA. Electronic address: KhoaTNguyen1991@gmail.com.
2Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
3Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
4Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, LSUHSC School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
5Applied Stem Cell Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
6UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry Division, SGC-UNC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
7Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA. Electronic address: mburow@tulane.edu.
Abstract
The liver is a major organ that is involved in essential biological functions such as digestion, nutrient storage, and detoxification. Furthermore, it is one of the most metabolically active organs with active roles in regulating carbohydrate, protein, and lipid metabolism. Hepatocellular carcinoma is a cancer of the liver that is associated in settings of chronic inflammation such as viral hepatitis, repeated toxin exposure, and fatty liver disease. Furthermore, liver cancer is the most common cause of death associated with cirrhosis and is the 3rd leading cause of global cancer deaths. LKB1 signaling has been demonstrated to play a role in regulating cellular metabolism under normal and nutrient deficient conditions. Furthermore, LKB1 signaling has been found to be involved in many cancers with most reports identifying LKB1 to have a tumor suppressive role. In this review, we use the KMPlotter database to correlate RNA levels of LKB1 signaling genes and hepatocellular carcinoma patient survival outcomes with the hopes of identifying potential biomarkers clinical usage. Based on our results STRADß, CAB39L, AMPKα, MARK2, SIK1, SIK2, BRSK1, BRSK2, and SNRK expression has a statistically significant impact on patient survival.