Expression and clinical significance of astrocyte elevated gene-1,β-catenin,and cyclin D1 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of astrocyte elevated gene- 1( AEG- 1),β- catenin,and cyclin D1 in hepatocellular carcinoma( HCC) tissues. Methods A total of 40 HCC samples and 40 samples of corresponding para- carcinoma tissues from the patients with pathologically confirmed HCC who underwent surgery in The People's Hospital of Guizhou from July 2013 to December 2014 were randomly selected,and 8 samples of normal liver tissues were selected as controls. The immunohistochemistry SP was used to measure the protein expression of AEG- 1,β- catenin,and cyclin D1 in HCC tissues,corresponding para- carcinoma tissues,and normal liver tissues,and the correlation between their expression and HCC clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed. The chi- square test or Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups,and the Spearman rank correlation was used to analyze the correlation of AEG- 1 with β- catenin,and cyclin D1 in HCC. Results HCC tissues and para- carcinoma tissues showed significantly higher protein expression of AEG- 1,β- catenin,and cyclin D1 than normal liver tissues( χ2= 7. 840,4. 274,8. 817,4. 274,9. 919,and 4. 850,P = 0. 005,0. 039,0. 003,0. 039,0. 002,and 0. 028). The positive expression of AEG- 1,β- catenin,and cyclin D1 showed no significant differences across the patients with different sexes,ages,HBs Ag status,or tumor sizes( all P > 0. 05),but showed significant differences across the patients with different degrees of pathological differentiation,TNM stages for liver cancer,and metastases( all P < 0. 05). The correlation analysis showed that the protein expression of AEG- 1 was positively correlated with that of β- catenin and cyclin D1( r = 0. 420 and 0. 741,both P < 0. 01). Conclusion AEG- 1,β- catenin,and cyclin D1 may play vital roles in the development and progression of HCC. AEG- 1 may up- regulate the expression and activity of cyclin D1 and β- catenin and thus promote the development and metastasis of HCC. A combined measurement of AEG- 1,β- catenin,and cyclin D1 can be used as an important parameter for HCC gene therapy and prognostic evaluation.