The Expression Of SHIP2and Its Clinical Significance In Hepatocellular Carcinoma(HCC)

Objective:To investigate the expression of SHIP2protein in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), to evaluate the relationship between its expression with the clinical pathologic factors.Methods:The methods of immunohistochemistry and Western blot were used to detect the expression of SHIP2protein in specimens from35patients with HCC, who never had accepted chemotherapy or radiotherapy before operation,35paired adjacent nontumorous hepatic tissues(at least2cm distance from the carcinoma tissue), and10normal hepatic tissues (obtained from patients with liver trauma but without hepatitis and liver cirrhosis), to compare the difference in the level of SHIP2protein in the three groups and analyze the relationship between the level of SHIP2protein with clinicopathologic characteristics of HCC.Results:1. The results of the study showed that SHIP2mainly existed in the cytoplasm of HCC.2. Immunohistochemical detection showed that the total positive rate of SHIP2protein in HCC tissues, adjacent nontumorous hepatic tissues and normal hepatic tissues were77.1%,31.4%and30.0%, respectively. While Western blot results showed that the expression of SHIP2protein in the three groups of liver tissues were (0.296±0.066),(0.174±0.033) and (0.156±0.009), respectively. Both results showed that the expression of SHIP2protein was higher in HCC tissues than that in the adjacent nontumorous hepatic tissues and normal hepatic tissues (P<0.001), however, the difference between the adjacent nontumorous hepatic tissues and normal hepatic tissues was not statistically significant (P>0.05).3. The results of the study also showed that SHIP2over-expression in HCC was closely associated with the tumor differentiation (P=0.016), satellite nodules (P=0.004) and veinous invasion (P=0.006). However, there were no statistically significant correlation between SHIP2 expression and age, gender, HBsAg, cirrhosis, tumor size and AFP.Conclusions:1. The expression of SHIP2protein was significantly higher in HCC than that in the adjacent nontumorous tissues and normal hepatic tissues, which suggest that the over-expression of SHIP2exists in HCC.2. There is a significant correlation between SHIP2expression, tumor differentiation, satellite nodules and veinous invasion, SHIP2may play a key role in the malignance of HCC, promoting the invasion and metastasis of HCC.