The expression of mitochondrial membrane protein ATAD3A in liver cancer tissues was detected to explore its relationship with the clinicopathologic features and prognosis of liver cancer.

Cancer tissues and corresponding paracancer tissues（3~5 cm away from the edge of cancer foci）of 85 patients with liver cancer who underwent surgical treatment from July 2016 to March 2018 were selected for study. Immunohistochemical staining and qRT-PCR were used to detect the expression of ATAD3A protein and mRNA in liver cancer tissues and adjacent tissues. SPSS 25.0 statistical software was used for data analysis，the measurement data were represented by（

The positive expression rate of ATAD3A protein in liver cancer tissues was 28.2%（24/85），and the relative expression level of mRNA was（2.6±0.5），which was significantly lower than that of adjacent normal tissues（76.5%（65/85）and（4.8±0.9），and the difference was statistically significant（χ²=39.641，t=19.701，P<0.001）. The expression of ATAD3A protein and mRNA were closely related to tumor diameter，differentiation degree，TNM stage and vascular cancer thrombus，and the differences were statistically significant（χ²=39.641，P<0.05）. The 5-year cumulative overall survival rate was 58.3% in the ATAD3A positive group and 41.0% in the negative group，with statistically significant differences（Log-Rank χ²=4.317，P=0.038）. Tumor diameter，degree of differentiation，TNM stage，vascular cancer thrombin and ATAD3A negative expression were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with HCC（P<0.05）.

ATAD3A expression was significantly negative/low in liver cancer tissues，which was closely related to tumor diameter，differentiation degree，TNM stage，vascular cancer thrombus and other pathological characteristics，and may be involved in disease progression. Negative expression of ATAD3A is an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with liver cancer and can be used as a molecular marker for prognosis.