Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumour associated with a high mortality rate and poor prognosis worldwide. Uridine diphosphate-glucose pyrophosphorylase 2 (UGP2), a key enzyme in glycogen biosynthesis, has been reported to be associated with the occurrence and development of various cancer types. However, its diagnostic value and prognostic value in HCC remain unclear. The present study observed that UGP2 expression was significantly downregulated at both the mRNA and protein levels in HCC tissues. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that UGP2 may be an indicator for the diagnosis of HCC. In addition, Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression multivariate analyses indicated that UGP2 is an independent prognostic factor of overall survival (OS) in patients with HCC. Furthermore, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) suggested that gene sets negatively correlated with the survival of HCC patients were enriched in the group with low UGP2 expression levels. More importantly, a significant correlation was identified between low UGP2 expression and fatty acid metabolism. In summary, the present study demonstrates that UGP2 may contribute to the progression of HCC, indicating a potential therapeutic target for HCC patients.

中文翻译：

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UGP2低表达与肿瘤进展相关，并预测肝细胞癌的预后不良。

肝细胞癌（HCC）是一种恶性肿瘤，在全球范围内具有很高的死亡率和不良的预后。据报道，尿苷二磷酸葡萄糖焦磷酸化酶2（UGP2）是糖原生物合成中的关键酶，与多种癌症的发生和发展有关。然而，其在肝癌中的诊断价值和预后价值仍不清楚。本研究发现，在肝癌组织中，mRNA和蛋白水平均显着下调了UGP2的表达。接收器工作特性（ROC）曲线分析显示，UGP2可能是诊断HCC的指标。此外，Kaplan-Meier和Cox回归多元分析表明，UGP2是HCC患者总体生存（OS）的独立预后因素。此外，基因集富集分析（GSEA）表明，与UGC2表达水平低的组相比，与肝癌患者生存负相关的基因集得到了丰富。更重要的是，在低UGP2表达与脂肪酸代谢之间发现了显着的相关性。总而言之，本研究证明了UGP2可能有助于HCC的发展，表明HCC患者的潜在治疗靶点。