Deciphering the oncogenic role of Rac family small GTPase 3 in hepatocellular carcinoma through multiomics integration

Table 1 Comparative analysis of Rac family small GTPase 3 protein expression in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and paired adjacent non-tumorous liver tissues, n (%)

Group	Number	Rac family small GTPase 3 expression		χ2	P value
		Low	High
HCC tissues	108	39 (36.1)	69 (63.9)	28.4	< 0.001
Non-HCC tissues	108	78 (72.2)	30 (27.8)

HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Table 2 Association between Rac family small GTPase 3 protein immunoreactivity and clinicopathological characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma using an in-house developed immunohistochemistry assay

Clinicopathological parameters	Number	Rac family small GTPase 3 expression		χ2	P value
		High	Low
Age (years)
≥ 60	69	17	52	0.645	0.422
< 60	39	7	32
Gender
Male	93	62	31	2.239	0.135
Female	15	7	8
Pathologic grade
I-II	27	21	6	3.010	0.083
III-IV	81	48	33
Clinical stage
I-II	102	64	38	1.041	0.308
III-IV	6	5	1
Capsular invasion
Yes	76	53	23	3.802	0.051
No	32	16	16
Microvascular invasion
Yes	41	25	16	0.243	0.622
No	67	44	23
Satellite nodule
Yes	11	4	7	4.022	0.045
No	97	65	32
Liver cirrhosis
Yes	65	39	26	1.070	0.301
No	43	30	13
Alpha-fetoprotein
≥ 8.78 ng/mL	69	39	30	4.495	0.034
< 8.78 ng/mL	39	30	9
Hepatitis B virus
Yes	95	59	36	1.088	0.297
No	13	10	3

Table 3 Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses of overall survival-associated factors in The Cancer Genome Atlas liver hepatocellular carcinoma cohort

Variables	Univariate analysis			Multivariate analysis
	HR	95%CI	P value	HR	95%CI	P value
Age	1.609	1.040-2.491	0.033	1.564	0.997-2.453	0.051
Gender	0.758	0.496-1.158	0.200	0.855	0.549-1.332	0.488
Pathologic stage	1.134	0.749-1.717	0.553	1.037	0.686-1.568	0.862
Clinical stage	0.925	0.606-1.411	0.717	0.952	0.629-1.441	0.815
New tumor event after initial treatment	1.058	0.686-1.630	0.799	1.097	0.707-1.704	0.679
Rac family small GTPase 3	2.254	1.460-3.480	< 0.001	2.220	1.428-3.451	< 0.001

HR: Hazard ratio.