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The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between zinc finger protein (ZNF) 689 expression and the clinicopathological features and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A total of 102 paired HCC and paired non‑cancerous tissues, and 16 normal liver tissues were collected. ZNF689 expression was examined in HCC tissues, paired‑noncancerous tissues, and normal liver tissues using RT‑qPCR and immunohistochemistry analysis, and the association between ZNF689 expression and HCC prognosis was analyzed using the Kaplan‑Meier method. ZNF689 expression was not significantly different between HCC tissues and paired‑noncancerous tissues (P=0.61). ZNF689 expression in HCC and paired‑noncancerous tissues was significantly increased compared with that in normal liver tissues (P<0.01). Positive expression of ZNF689 protein in HCC was significantly associated with a tumor size of ≥10 cm, tumor capsule infiltration, and microvascular invasion (P<0.05). Positive expression of ZNF689 was a prognostic factor for overall survival time [hazard ratio (HR):1.961; P=0.048] and progression‑free survival time (HR:1.902; P=0.041). ZNF689 maybe a novel predictor for prognosis of patients with HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNA (miR)-21 has been identified as a novel biomarker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the prognostic value of miR-21 expression in HCC remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to investigate the value of high expression of miR-21 in predicting the prognosis of HCC. Following a search through the PubMed, Science Citation Index, EMBASE and CNKI databases, a total of 9 studies investigating the expression of miR-21 in HCC and the association between high expression of miR-21 and prognosis of HCC were identified. It was observed that high expression of miR-21 was not associated with poor overall survival of all patients with HCC (P=0.52). However, high expression of miR-21 was found to be correlated with poor prognosis of HCC patients undergoing curative resection (hazard ratio = 2.36; P<0.01). It was also demonstrated that high expression of miR-21 was correlated with tumor size >5 cm [odds ratio (OR)=1.53; P=0.04], venous invasion (OR=4.86; P=0.01), TNM stage (OR=3.44; P<0.01) and liver cirrhosis (OR=2.12; P=0.03). It was concluded that miR-21 cannot be considered as a factor complementary to α-fetoprotein, microvascular invasion and advanced tumor stage in predicting the prognosis of all HCC patients. Higher expression of miR-21 may be a promising biomarker associated with certain clinicopathological characteristics of HCC, such as tumor size, venous invasion, TNM stage and liver cirrhosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]