The expression of SPARC in hepatocellar carcinoma and its significance / 中国癌症杂志

ABSTRACT

Background and purpose:Recent researches have shown that Secreted Protien Acidic and Rich in Cysteine (SPARC) was closely related to tumor genesis, tumor progression and tumor metastasis. SPARC was highly expressed in malignant melanoma, glioma, meningioma, bladder cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer, etc. In this study we investigated SPARC expression in hepatocellar carcinoma (HCC) and its signifi cance. Methods:RT-PCR was used to detect SPARC mRNA expression in cancer tissue samples and their adjacent liver tissue samples from 62 patients with hepatocellar carcinoma and 30 normal liver tissue samples, respectively. And the differential protein expression of SPARC between these groups was analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Results:SPARC mRNA was highly expressed in HCC(14.0?3.6) and in the adjacent liver tissue (6.8?1.8); compared with low expression of 2.7?0.9 in normal liver tissue, there were signifi cant differences among the three groups (p=0.000). SPARC positively stained was found in 54 of 62 patients with HCC and 4 of 30 normal liver tissue, there was significant difference between these two groups (P=0.000). SPARC immunohistochemical score was 21.5?4.8 in the carcinoma group; 11.3?3.6 in paracarcinoma group and 5.7?1.8 in the normal group, there were also significant differences among the three groups (P=0.000). The expression of SPARC protein was significantly upregulated with the progress of Enmondson pathological classification. There was obviously differences between Ⅰvs Ⅱ(P=0.029), and Ⅱ vs Ⅲ Ⅳ(P=0.008). There was more SPARC expression in the patients with metastasis of HCC (26/27, 96.3%) than that without metastasis(23/35, 65.7%)(P=0.004). Conclusion:SPARC mRNA expression and its protein were related to HCC histological differentiation and metastatic lymph node; SPARC is helpful to clinical evaluation of HCC.