Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To detect the expression of β-catenin and its prognostic significance in hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: The expression of β-catenin protein was detected by immunohistochemistry in 83 cases of resected HCC tissues,26 cases of adjacent tissues and 5 cases of normal liver tissues. The integrated follow-up data were rerospectively analyzed in patients who had undergone radical hepatectomy. The relationships between β-catenin and clincal variables,HCC pathological differentiation and postoperative survival were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The positive expression rates of β-catenin in the HCC tissues,adjacent tissues and normal liver tissues were 68.67% (57/83)、30.77%(8/26) and 20%(1/5). The positive rate of β-catenin in HCC was significantly higher than that of adjacent tissues and normal liver tissues (P < 0.05). The positive expression rates of β-catenin was negatively correlated with pathological differentiation (r=-0.34,P=0.027). In the 83 follow-up data,68 cases were effective. In the first 5 years of follow-up data,and among patients with positive expression of β-catenin,the mean survival time was 11.2 months. Among patients with negative expression of β-catenin,the mean survival time was 26.6 months. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that patients with negative expression of β-catenin had longer survival time and their prognosis was significantly different based on Log-rank test(χ²=15.138,P=0.000). CONCLUSION: Expression of β-catenin was correlated with pathological differentiation in HCC and its high expression predicted poor prognosis.

Key words: hepatocellular carcinoma, β-catenin, immunohistochemistry, prognosis