Ali M.A.Matboli M.El-Khazragy N.Saber O.El-Nakeep S.Abdelzaher H.M.Shafei A.E.-S.Mostafa R.Department of Biomedical ResearchArmed Forces College of Medicine (AFCM)Cairo11774Egypt; Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyAin Shams Faculty of Medicine Research Center (Masri)11778Egypt; Department of Clinical PathologyOncology Diagnostic UnitFaculty of MedicineAin Shams UniversityCairo11778Egypt; Armed Forces College of Medicine (AFCM)Cairo11774Egypt; Hepatology and Gastroenterology UnitInternal Medicine DepartmentFaculty of MedicineAin Shams UniversityCairo11778Egypt; Faculty of BiotechnologyOctober University for Modern Sciences and ArtsCairo12585Egypt2020-01-092020-01-09201817520363https://doi.org/10.2217/bmm-2017-0273PubMedID29441798https://t.ly/q2rjDScopusAim: We aimed to examine the statistical association between serum expression of miRNA 661 (miR-661) and ATG-4B mRNA and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) based on in silico data analysis followed by clinical validation. Patients & methods: Quantitative reverse-transcriptase real-time PCR was used to examine the expression of miR-661 and ATG-4B mRNA in the sera of HCC patients versus control. Results: The expression of miR-661 and ATG-4B mRNA was positive in 97.14 and 77.14%, respectively, in HCC patients. The survival analysis showed that ATG-4B mRNA was an independent prognostic factor. Conclusion: Our data are the first report of its kind regarding the considerable clinical significance of miR-661 and ATG-4B mRNA in HCC patients. � 2018 2018 Future Medicine Ltd.EnglishATG-4Bbioinformaticsbiomarkershepatocellular carcinomamiR-661prognosisalanine aminotransferasebilirubincysteine proteinasemessenger RNAmicroRNAmicroRNA 661protein ATG 4unclassified drugATG4B protein, humanautophagy related proteincysteine proteinasemessenger RNAmicroRNAMIRN661 microRNA, humantumor markeradultalanine aminotransferase blood levelarea under the curveArticleATG4 B genebilirubin blood levelcancer prognosiscancer stagingcancer survivalChild Pugh scoredisease markerfemalegenegene expressionhumanliver cell carcinomaliver cirrhosismajor clinical studymaleprotein blood levelreceiver operating characteristicreverse transcription polymerase chain reactionsensitivity and specificitysurvival ratebloodcase control studygeneticsliver cell carcinomaliver tumormetabolismmiddle agedpathologyprognosisupregulationArea Under CurveAutophagy-Related ProteinsBiomarkers, TumorCarcinoma, HepatocellularCase-Control StudiesCysteine EndopeptidasesFemaleHumansLiver NeoplasmsMaleMicroRNAsMiddle AgedNeoplasm StagingPrognosisRNA, MessengerROC CurveUp-RegulationArticlehttps://doi.org/10.2217/bmm-2017-0273PubMedID29441798