The serine/threonine-protein kinase PFTAIRE 1 (PFTK1) is a member of the cyclin‑dependent kinase family that is highly expressed in several malignant tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma, esophageal, breast and gastric cancers, and glioma.
Recent studies show that PFTK1 is highly expressed in several malignant tumors such as hepatocellular carcinoma, esophageal cancer, breast cancer, and involved in regulation of cell cycle, tumors proliferation, migration, and invasion that further influence the prognosis of tumors.
Here, we showed from tissue microarray that common upregulations of PFTK1 in primary HCC tumors (n=133/180) correlated significantly with early age onset (40 years), advance tumor grading and presence of microvascular invasion (P0.05).
Our study stemmed from an earlier investigation where we demonstrated that PFTK1 kinase conferred cell migratory advantages in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells.
Quantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR evaluation further indicated upregulation of a single candidate gene, PFTK1, that correlated significantly with both advanced metastatic HCCs (P = 0.032) and tumor microvascular invasion (P = 0.012).