Expressions of
Survivin and nuclear factor of kappa light
polypeptide gene enhancer in B cells (NF-κB) are associated with a poor prognosis in many
malignancies. However, their relationship in
hepatocellular carcinoma remains unclear. To investigate the
protein expression of
Survivin and NF-κB, determine their role in the pathogenesis of
hepatocellular carcinoma, and correlate expression with patient survival outcome, immunohistochemistry was used to detect the
protein expression of
Survivin and NF-κB in 305 cases of
hepatocellular carcinoma. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the relationship between the
protein expression of
Survivin and NF-κB and clinicopathological parameters, survival time, and prognosis.
Survivin was expressed predominantly in the cytoplasm, and NF-κB was expressed mostly in the nucleolus.
Survivin and NF-κB are expressed at significantly higher rates in
hepatocellular carcinoma compared with benign tissue (75.7 vs 13.4 %, P < 0.01 and 79.0 vs 17.1 %, P < 0.01, respectively). Both
Survivin and NF-κB expression levels are associated with poor prognostic factors, including
tumor size, capsular invasion,
tumor thrombus of the portal vein,
metastasis of the lymph node, and clinical staging. There was an obvious positive correlation between the expression of
Survivin and NF-κB in
hepatocellular carcinoma (r = 0.23, P < 0.01). Patients expressing
Survivin and NF-κB had significantly shorter survival compared with patients negative for
protein expression (P < 0.01). The overexpressions of both
Survivin and NF-κB are associated with worse survival outcome in patients with
hepatocellular carcinoma. Thus, these
proteins could be used as negative prognostic indicators.