β-Catenin Expression Correlates With Prognosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Treated With Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization.

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIM:

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is one of the most widely used palliative therapies for the unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, a large difference is found in prognosis among patients treated with TACE. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic value of β-catenin in HCC patients treated with TACE.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Seventy patients with HCC were included in this study. Expression of β-catenin was determined by immunohistochemistry in biopsy samples taken before TACE. The patients were treated with TACE and followed-up. Clinicopathological parameters, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated to analyze the association of β-catenin expression with prognosis for HCC patients after TACE.

RESULTS:

HCC patient biopsies exhibited a significantly higher positive rate of β-catenin expression (72.86%) compared to paracancer normal tissues (19.44%) (p<0.01). β-Catenin expression was closely correlated with tumor differentiation, tumor size, serum α-fetoprotein (AFP) level and TACE treatment frequency (all p<0.05). Patients with negative β-catenin expression had longer PFS and OS after TACE compared to those with positive β-catenin expression (PFS: 44.2 vs. 14.1 months, p=0.004; OS: 56.4 vs. 35.9 months, p<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that β-catenin expression in HCC patients treated with TACE was an independent prognostic factor for higher PFS and OS.

CONCLUSION:

The HCC patients with increased β-catenin expression have a poor prognosis with lower survival rate.

• Authors: Xiangxian Xu, Dazhi Gao, Xiaoli Yuan, L I Liu, Xiang Zhang, Xianxian Liang, Sui Chen, Min Ai, B O Chen, Donghong Shi, Zhijian Yang, Robert M Hoffman, Jian Xu
• Journal: Anticancer research (Anticancer Res) Vol. 39 Issue 3 Pg. 1129-1134 (Mar 2019) ISSN: 1791-7530 [Electronic] Greece
• PMID: 30842141 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright© 2019, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• CTNNB1 protein, human
• beta Catenin

Topics

• Carcinoma, Hepatocellular (metabolism, pathology, therapy)
• Chemoembolization, Therapeutic
• Humans
• Kaplan-Meier Estimate
• Liver Neoplasms (metabolism, pathology, therapy)
• Prognosis
• beta Catenin (metabolism)