Clinical significance of histone deacetylases 1, 2, 3, and 7: HDAC2 is an independent predictor of survival in HCC.

Histone deacetylases (HDAC) are responsible for the transcriptional control of genes through chromatin remodeling and control tumor suppressor genes. In several tumors, their expression has been linked to clinicopathological factors and patient survival. This study investigates HDACs 1, 2, 3, and 7 expressions in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and their correlation with clinical data and patient survival. Tissue microarrays of 170 surgically resected primary HCCs and adjacent uninvolved tissue were evaluated immunohistochemically for the expression of HDACs 1, 2, 3, 7, and Ki-67 and were analyzed with respect to clinicopathological data and patient survival. HDACs 1, 2, 3, and Ki-67 were expressed significantly higher in cancer cells compared to normal tissue (HDAC1: p = 0.034, HDACs 2 and 3 and Ki-67: p < 0.001), while HDAC7 expression did not differ between HCC and non-cancerous liver tissue. In tumor tissue HDACs 1-3 expression levels showed high concordance with each other, Ki-67 and tumor grade (p < 0.001). High HDAC2 expression was associated with poor survival in low-grade and early-stage tumors (p < 0.05). The expression of the HDACs 1, 2, and 3 (but not HDAC7) isoenzymes correlates with clinicopathological factors, and HDAC2 expression has an impact on patient survival.