ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVES</b>To detect the expressions of Tec tyrosine kinase in hepatocellular carcinoma and the levels of phosphorylation of tyrosine kinase in liver cancer tissues, paracancerous tissues and normal liver tissues and to find the significance of their differences.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>200 specimens of tissues, including liver cancer tissues, surrounding liver tissues not more than 1.5 cm from the cancers, and normal liver tissues were investigated for Tec protein expression and Tec phosphorylation by tissue microarrays and immunohistochemistry (SP method).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive immunohistochemical stainings of Tec in cancerous tissues and non-cancerous tissues showed no obvious differences, nevertheless, the immunostaining levels in liver cancer tissues were much higher than in non-cancerous tissues and they correlated with the grading of tumors (P < 0.05). The phosphorylation of Tec was significantly expressed in liver cancer tissues (73%) in comparison with other tissues (42%, 10% both P < 0.05), but it did not correlate with any clinicopathological characteristics.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Overexpression of Tec is associated with the tumorigenesis and development of liver cancer; inhibiting Tec or degrading Tec phosphorylation directly might affect the progression of liver cancer.</p>