Connexin-43 can delay early recurrence and metastasis in patients with hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma and low serum alpha-fetoprotein after radical hepatectomy

BMC Cancer

Zu-Sen Wang¹  Li-Qun Wu¹  Xin Yi¹  Chao Geng¹  Yu-Jun Li²  Ru-Yong Yao³ 

[1] Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Medical College Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, 266003, China

[2] Department of Pathology, Affiliated Hospital of Medical College Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, 266003, China

[3] Department of Central Laboratory, Affiliated Hospital of Medical College Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, 266003, China

关键词: Prognosis;    Metastasis;    Early recurrence;    CD105;    VEGF;    Cx43;    Alpha-fetoprotein;    Hepatitis B;    Hepatocellular;    Carcinoma;   

Others  :  1079684
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2407-13-306

 received in 2012-12-24, accepted in 2013-06-20,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

We studied the relationships among Cx43, CD105, and VEGF in specimens of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with different serum AFP levels with respect to recurrence and metastasis.

Methods

Expressions of Cx43, CD105, and VEGF in 234 HCC tissue specimens were examined using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry. Cx43 mRNA expression was examined in 38 frozen HCC specimens using RT-PCR. Correlations between these expressions and tumor recurrence, metastasis, and prognosis were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression analyses.

Results

Cx43 expression correlated with early tumor recurrence (P = 0.001), disease-free survival (P = 0.026), and overall survival (P = 0.000) in patients with serum AFP < 400 ng/ml, but not in those with serum AFP ≥ 400 μg/L. Cx43 expression is an independent predictor of later recurrence and longer overall survival and is inversely correlated with expression of CD105 and VEGF (P = 0.018 and 0.023, respectively), histological differentiation (P = 0.002), vessel tumor embolism (P = 0.029), and focal number (P = 0.017). Immunohistochemistry showed that Cx43 expression in patients with low AFP was lower in patients with distant metastases than in those with no metastasis or those with liver metastasis. Patients with early recurrence expressed less Cx43 mRNA than did those with no recurrence (χ² = 9.827, P = 0.002).

Conclusions

Cx43 expression can delay early HCC recurrence, metastasis, and poor prognosis after radical hepatectomy in patients with HBV-related HCC and low AFP.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Wang et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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