A Study Of The Correlation Between The Features Of Multislice Computed Tomography And Angiogenesis In Hepatocellular Carcinomas

Objective: To explore the correlation between multislice computedtomography (MSCT) features and angiogenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Materials and methods: Forty-one cases of surgically excised HCCtissue samples that were pathologically diagnosed and16cases ofnontumorous hepatic tissue were analyzed by streptavidin-peroxidase (SP)immunohistochemistry to detect the expression of hypoxia-induciblefactor-1α (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and assessmicrovessel density (MVD). All of the patients were preoperatively examinedwith plain and enhanced CT.Results: The positive expression rates of HIF-1α were82.93%(34/41)and37.50%(6/16) and of VEGF were84.49%(33/41) and25.00%(4/16) andthe MVD values were41.01±20.23and21.44±12.65in HCC tissues andadjacent noncancerous tissues, respectively; the differences between the twogroups were statistically significant for all three variables (p <0.05). Theexpression levels of both HIF-1α and VEGF correlated with the MVD value,and HIF-1α and VEGF expression correlated with each other. Moreover,HIF-1α and VEGF expression, as well as the MVD value, were correlatedwith the pathological degree of HCC(p <0.05). The positive expression ratesof HIF-1α and VEGF and the MVD values were86.67%(13/15),86.67%(13/15), and46.57±19.94in HCC with a tumor diameter≤5cm compared to 80.77%(21/26),76.92%(20/26), and37.80±20.08in HCC with a tumordiameter>5cm, but these group differences were not statistically significant(p>0.05). The positive expression rates of HIF-1α and VEGF and the MVDvalues were57.14%(8/14),57.14%(8/14), and32.12±16.26in tumors withintact capsules compared to96.30%(26/27),92.59%(25/27), and56.43±17.20in tumors with ruptured pseudocapsules or without pseudocapsules;these group differences were statistically significant(p <0.05). The positiveexpression rates of HIF-1α and VEGF and the MVD values were95.24%(20/21),95.24%(20/21), and51.05±18.90in tumors with a high risk ofmetastasis and invasion compared to70.00%(14/20),61.90%(13/20), and30.47±16.04in tumors with a low risk of metastasis and invasion; the groupdifferences were statistically significant(p <0.05). The positive expressionrates of HIF-1α and VEGF and the MVD values were96.15%(25/26),96.15%(25/26), and50.99±17.04, respectively, in tumors supplied by arterialblood;72.73%(8/11),72.73%(8/11), and28.24±10.87, respectively, intumors with double blood supply; and25.00%(1/4),0.00%(0/4), and11.30±2.52in tumors with poor blood supply, respectively. The differences in thepositive expression rates of HIF-1α between the arterial blood supply anddouble blood supply groups and those between the arterial blood supply andpoor blood supply groups were statistically significant (p <0.05), while thedifferences between the double blood supply group and poor blood supplygroup was not statistically significant(p>0.05); however, the differences inthe positive expression rates of VEGF and MVD values among the threegroups were statistically significant(p <0.05).Conclusion: The MSCT features of HCC tissue are closely related toHIF-1α and VEGF expression and the MVD value, suggesting that the pathological and biological characteristics of HCC are reflected in MSCTfeatures.