| Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) is one of the world s most common malignant neoplasms,as the second morbidity in cancers in China.Its tumorigenesis and progression is a complex process involved of multigence and multiprocesure.The recurrence and metastasis are still major factors to affect the management outcome, h -catenin gene is a oncogene discovered in recent years,whose encoding product-h -catenin protein is a critical component in the downstream of Wnt signaling pathway. Wnt signaling activated abnormally can prevent degradation of free -catenin and result in the translocation of 3 -catenin from cytoplasm to nucleus and form a complex with members of the Tcf (T cell factor) / Lef ( Lymphoid enhancer factor) family to regulate expression of specifical target genes.In addition,as an important ingredient of E-cad (Epithelial-cadherin) /catenin complex, 3 -catenin possesses a close relationship with invasion and metastasis of tumor.E-cad is one of the most important adhesive molecules update.It extensively exists in the epithelial cells of embryo and matured tissuse.In the adhesive junction,the cytoplasmic domains of E-cad are linked to the actin cytoskeleton by catenin to form E-cad /catenin complex,.The abnormalities of the components of the complex may disrupt uitra-cellular adhesion.Recently, aberrant expression of - catenin and E-cad have been found in a variety of human tumors. ,but reports about their expression in HCCare still lacked in our country.ln this study, we detected the expression of P -catenin and E-cad by immunohistochemistry method in 56 HCC specimens after surgery to investigate their role in the carcinogenesis and progression of HCC,the relationship between these two genes and their clinicopathological signifficance. Materials and MethodsSpecimens of HCC were obtained from 56 patients who underwent surgery,with 34 cases of adjacent noncancer liver tissues(ANLT). There were 38 males and 18 females,aged from 29 to 70 years old(mean:50.5 years old). 40 patients' AFP level exceed 400ng/ml(71.4%), 36 patients' HBsAg was positive(64.3%).The diameters of tumor ranged from 2.0cm to 14cm (mean 7. 5cm). Tumors were graded according to the Edmondson-Steiner criteria,Grade I ,5 samples;Grade II ,17 samples; Grade III, 24 samples;Grade IV, 10 samples. 21 samples were well encapsulated, 17 samples have portal vein thrombosis.According to clinicopathological feature of HCC, all cases were divided into highly invasive HCC group (35 samples) and low invasive HCC group(21samples).None of the patients had received radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy or transcatheter arterial chemoembolization before operation.5 case of laceration injury of liver were used as normal controls. Immuno-histochemical staining of P -catenin and E-cad were detected with S-P (Streptavidin-Peroxidase)method and were assessed according to the method described by Maruyama and Kanai respectively. Statistical analysis was executed by SPSS 10.0 software,? values less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results1 .Normal location of P -catenin was cytomembranous ,aberrant expression patterns include reduced membranous expression,cytoplasmic and/or nuclear expression.2. P -catenin showed positive expression at cyto membrane in 5 normal hepatic tissues and 34 ANLT, while abnormal P -catenin expression were detected in 40 of 56 HCC samples(71.4%),including 29(51.8%) reduced membranous expression,37(66%) ectopic expression.3. There was no obvious relationship between P -catenin and age, sex, AFP or tumor diameter of patients with HCC . Ectopic P -catenin expression rates in well-differentiated group were 45.5% (10/22) and 79.4%(27/34) in poor- differentiatedgroup,there was significantly statistical difference(.P<0.01) . Reduced membranous expression was more frequent in tumors with poor capsula or portal embolus than in tumors with intact capsula or without portal embolus(.P<0.05).The aberrant expression rates of 3 -catenin in highly invasive group and low invasive group were respectively 82.9%(29/35) and 52.4%(1 l/...
|
PDF Full Text Request