Abstract:
Objectives To investigate the expression of high-mobility group box 1(HMGB1) in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) and to analyze the association of HMGB1 expression with clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis.
Methods Ninety-eight patients diagnosed with HCC after pathological analysis received curative hepatectomy from January 2004 to December 2004.Their complete follow-up data were collected, and they were used as study population.Thirty cases with hepatic hemangioma resection were selected as contrast, Immunohistochemistry method was used to detect the expression of HMGB1.The association of HMGB1 expression with clinicopathologic characteristics and overall and recurrence-free survivals was analyzed.
Results Expression of HMGB1 was observed mainly in the cytoplasm, HMGB1 was recorded in 90(91.84%) of 98 tumor tissues.21.43%in juxtacancerous tissues, and none in normal hepatic tissues.There was no correlation between the expression of HMGB1 and clinicopathologic characteristics, except for the tumor capsule.The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survivals of 98 patients were 83.5%, 58.2%, and 49.4%, respectively, and the corresponding recurrence-free survivals were 60.7%, 40.6%.and 36.8%, respectively.Multivariate analysis showed that HMGB1 was an independent prognostic factor for overall and recurrence-free survivals.The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates for the patients with HMGB1 high expression(n = 57) and with no or low expression(n=41) were 75.4%, 42.7%, and 37.7%and 89.3%, 69.3%, and 57.5%, respectively(P = 0.028). The corresponding recurrence-free survivals were 50.1%, 31.6%, and 26.1%and 68.4%, 47.1%, and 45.1%, respectively(P = 0.047).
Conclusion The overexpression of HMGB1 is a prognostic predictor for patients with HCC after curative hepatectomy.