Objective To investigate the effect of up-regulation of long-chain non-coding RNA GHET1 on
the prognosis of liver transplantation patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, and to explore whether it can be used as a
potential molecular target for the detection and treatment of liver transplantation for liver cancer. Methods Twenty
samples of hepatocellular carcinoma and corresponding cancer adjacent tissues were collected. The samples of
hepatocellular carcinoma from 106 patients who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation were collected. Theywere divided into recurrence group and non-recurrence group according to whether there was a recurrence of
hepatic carcinoma. According to the expression of GHET1, they were divided into the high expression group and
low expression group. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of GHET1 in all
tissues. The relationships between GHET1 expression, the clinicopathological features and prognosis of HCC were
analyzed. Results Compared with the adjacent non-tumor tissues, the expression of GHET1 was increased in
hepatocellular carcinoma(P < 0.001). The results of clinical pathology analysis showed that GHET1 expression
was closely related with tumor capsule (P < 0.001), tumor diameter (P < 0.01), differentiation grade (P < 0.01),
vascular invasion(P < 0.01) and TNM stage(P < 0.01),but not related to the patient's age, gender, cirrhosis,
serum AFP levels, serum NLR values, tumor location and tumor number (P > 0.05). In 106 liver cancer patients
who underwent liver transplantation, the expressions of GHET1 were significantly higher in the recurrence group
compared to the non-recurrence group (P < 0.001) and the low-expression group. The cumulative recurrence rate in
the high-expression group was significantly higher (P < 0.05). The cumulative survival rate in the high-expression
group was significantly lower (P < 0.001). The difference was statistically significant. Conclusion GHET1
overexpression is associated with clinicopathological feature and poor prognosis. This conclusion suggests that GHET1
may be involved in the occurrence and development of HCC, and it can be used as a prognostic marker and clinical
target in liver cancer patients who undergo liver transplantation.