Purpose: The aim of present study was to investigate the methylation and expression status of spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to evaluate this information for its ability to predict disease prognosis. E-cadherin and TIMP-3 methylation was also analyzed here as control because both were associated with poor prognosis in some types of tumors.

Experimental Design: We analyzed the methylation status of SYK, E-cadherin, and TIMP-3 in 124 cases of HCC and assessed the correlation of such methylations with clinicopathologic variables and prognosis after tumor resection.

Results: We found that SYK, E-cadherin, and TIMP-3 genes were methylated in 27%, 27%, and 42% of HCC neoplastic tissues, respectively. The loss of SYK mRNA or Syk protein expression was highly correlated with SYK gene methylation. The patients with methylated SYK in neoplastic tissues had a significantly lower overall survival rate after hepatectomy than those with unmethylated SYK. No significant difference in overall survival rates, however, was found between groups of patients with methylated and unmethylated E-cadherin or TIMP-3. Patients with negative Syk protein expression had a significantly lower overall survival rate than those with positive Syk protein expression. Multivariate analyses indicated that factors affecting overall survival were tumor-node-metastasis stage, Child-Pugh classification, SYK methylation, or Syk protein status.

Conclusions: Our results indicate that SYK methylation and loss of Syk expression in HCC neoplastic tissues are independent biomarkers of poor patient outcome and that determination of SYK methylation or Syk expression status may offer guidance for selecting appropriate treatments.