The Expression And Clinical Significance Of FAK And PTEN Protein In Hepatocellular Carcinoma Tissue

Objective:To analyze the correlation and clinical significance of focal adhesion kinase(FAK) and phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted from chromosome (PTEN)protein in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) tissue, para-carcinoma tissue and normalliver tissue, and study the expression of FAK and PTEN protein in hepatocellularcarcinoma tissue with different clincopathologic parameters.Methods:78cases of HCC tissue, Formalin-fixed and paraffine-embedded, were collectedfrom the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from January2010toDecember2012. Among them,56cases affiliated corresponding para-carcinomatissue(2cm or more to cancer tissue).20cases of normal liver tissue were collected asthe control group. The level of expression of PTEN and FAK in the three groups wasevaluated by Envision immunohistochemical method, and the data was analyzedstatiscally based on clinical pathological parameters.Results:1、FAK mainly expressed in cytoplasm. The expression of FAK in hepatocellularcarcinoma tissue, para-carcinoma tissue and normal liver tissue were respectively51.3%(40/78),39.3%（22/56）,5.0%（1/20）; There is no statistical significance inexpression of FAK between HCC group and para-carcinoma group (P＞0.05). But,compared with normal liver group, the both two groups had statistically significantlydifference (P＜0.05); the expression of FAK in HCC group were closely related tohistological grades, vascular invasion, satellite nodules and lymphatic metastasis (P＜0.05). But without relation to ages, sexuality, AFP level, tumor size, liver cirrhosis,and hepatitis B virus infection(P＞0.05).2、PTEN protein mainly expressed in cytoplasm, and expressed only a small partin nucleus. The expression of PTEN protein in the three groups were respectively62.8.3%(49/78),94.6%（53/56）、95.0%（19/20）. The expression of PTEN protein inpara-carcinoma group and normal liver group has no statistical significance(P＞0.05). But, compared with HCC group, there is a significantly difference in PTENexpression(P＜0.05); we found the expression of PTEN in HCC group were closelyrelated to histological grades, vascular invasion, satellite nodules and lymphaticmetastasis (P＜0.05). But with no relation to ages, sexuality, AFP level, tumor size,liver cirrhosis and hepatitis B virus infection(P＞0.05).3、 Spearman correlation analysis showed a negative correlation betweenexpression of FAK and PTEN protein in HCC (r=-0.43, P＜0.01).Conclusions:1、There is a significantly higher expression of FAK in HCC and para-carcinomatissue than normal hepatic tissue, and it has negative correlation with low degree ofdifferentiation, portal venous tumor emboli and satellite nodules. It suggests that FAKmay promote the occurrence and metastasis of HCC.2、 The expression of PTEN protein in HCC was significantly lower thanpara-carcinoma and normal hepatic tissue. A decreased expression was found in HCCtissue with low degree of differentiation, portal venous tumor emboli and satellitenodules, which indicated that PTEN protein may inhibit the occurrence andmetastasis of HCC.3、 The negative correlation between FAK and PTEN showed thatdown-regulated expression or deficiency of PTEN possibly leaded to FAKup-regulation and promoted HCC invasion and metastasis.4、It will provide theoretical basis for predicting prognosis and therapy of HCCby detecting of FAK and PTEN protein.