Aldo-Keto Reductase Family 1 Member B10 (AKR1B10) overexpression in tumors predicts worse overall survival in hepatocellular carcinoma

Overexpression of AKR1B10 correlated with tumorigenesis of many human malignancies; however, the prognostic value of AKR1B10 expression in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) still remains controversial. In this analysis, AKR1B10 expression in HCC tumors were evaluated in GEO, TCGA and Oncomine databases, and a survival analysis of AKR1B10 based on TCGA profile was performed. We found that AKR1B10 was significantly overexpressed in tumors compared with nontumors in 7 GEO series (GSE14520, GSE25097, GSE33006, GSE45436, GSE55092, GSE60502, GSE77314) and TCGA profile (all P < 0.05). Meta-analysis in Oncomine database revealed that AKR1B10 was significantly upregulated in cirrhosis, liver cell dysplasia and HCC compared with normal tissues (all P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that high AKR1B10 in tumors were significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS) in HCC patients (P < 0.05). Subgroup analysis showed that AKR1B10 overexpression were associated with poor 1-year, 3-year and 5-year OS (all P < 0.05). In addition, prognostic values of AKR1B10 upregulation for OS were more significant in HCC with hepatitis-virus-free (P = 0.00055), White race (P = 0.0029) and alcohol-free (P = 0.013), and both in male and female (P = 0.014 and P = 0.034, respectively). In conclusion: AKR1B10 was upregulated in tumors and correlated with worse OS in HCC patients.