Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of serine arginine protein kinase 1 (SRPK1) and insulin-like growth factor 2-mRNA binding protein 3 (IGF2BP3) in liver cancer tissue. Methods A total of 118 patients with liver cancer who treated in the Lianyungang First People′s Hospital from March 2019 to March 2021 were selected for the study. Immunohistochemical methods were applied to detect the expression levels of SRPK1 and IGF2BP3 proteins. Multivariate Cox regression was used to analyze the relationship between SRPK1 and IGF2BP3 expression, clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients. Results The positive expression rates of SRPK1 and IGF2BP3 in liver cancer tissues (72.88%, 75.42%) were significantly higher than those in adjacent tissues (32.20%, 28.81%) (χ²=39.16, P<0.001; χ²=51.36, P<0.001). The positive expression of SRPK1 and IGF2BP3 were found in patients with TNM stage Ⅲ to Ⅳ (76.74%, 74.16%), tumor diameter > 5 cm (81.40%, 79.78%), low differentiation (40.70%, 37.08%) and lymph node metastasis (67.44%, 60.67%). The proportion of positive expression was significantly increased (all P<0.05). The 3-year survival rate (78.13%) of patients with SRPK1 negative expression was higher (χ²=31.416, P<0.001). The 3-year survival rate (82.76%) of patients with IGF2BP3 positive expression was higher (χ²=30.763, P<0.001). SRPK1(HR=2.16; 95%CI:1.16~4.00; P=0.015), IGF2BP3(HR=2.14; 95%CI:1.05~4.36; P=0.035), TNM staging (HR=2.25; 95%CI:1.20~4.21; P=0.012), differentiation degree (HR=2.36; 95%CI:1.21~4.61; P=0.012), lymph node metastasis (HR=2.39; 95%CI:1.07~5.31; P=0.033) were the prognostic factors of patients with liver cancer (P<0.05). Conclusion The positive expression rates of SRPK1 and IGF2BP3 are increased in liver cancer tissues, which are closely related to differentiation degree, TNM staging, lymph node metastasis, and prognosis.

Key words: Hepatic cancer tissues, SRPK1, IGF2BP3, Prognosis