Liver Cancer
Copyright ©2007 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 7, 2007; 13(21): 2913-2917
Published online Jun 7, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i21.2913
Useful detection of CD147 (EMMPRIN) for pathological diagnosis of early hepatocellular carcinoma in needle biopsy samples
Satoshi Mamori, Keisuke Nagatsuma, Tomokazu Matsuura, Kiyoshi Ohkawa, Hiroshi Hano, Masaharu Fukunaga, Masato Matsushima, Yoshifumi Masui, Nao Fushiya, Hiroshi Onoda, Yasuyuki Searashi, Ichiro Takagi, Hisao Tagiri
Satoshi Mamori, Keisuke Nagatsuma, Yoshifumi Masui, Nao Fushiya, Hiroshi Onoda, Yasuyuki Searashi, Ichiro Takagi, Hisao Tajiri, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan
Tomokazu Matsuura, Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan
Kiyoshi Ohkawa, Department of Biochemistry 1, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan
Hiroshi Hano, Department of Pathology, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan
Masaharu Fukunaga, Department of Pathology, The Jikei University School of Medicine, The Daisan Hospital, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan
Masato Matsushima, Division of Clinical Research and development, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Satoshi Mamori, MD, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8 Nishi-shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan. mamori@jikei.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-3-34331111-3210 Fax: +81-3-34350569
Received: February 17, 2007
Revised: February 27, 2007
Accepted: March 21, 2007
Published online: June 7, 2007
Abstract

AIM: To make clear whether CD147 (EMMPRIN) expression in pathological tumor samples with a fine-needle aspiration biopsy is useful for pathological diagnosis of early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS: Twenty-two patients (15 men and 7 women; median age 68 years, range 56-81 years) underwent a liver tissue biopsy in order to make a diagnosis of HCC. Paraffin-embedded liver biopsy tissue samples from 22 patients were stained with anti-CD147 antibody, murine monoclonal antibody 12C3 (MAb12C3) for immunohistochemical analysis. An immunohistochemical analysis of CD147 was performed and the degree of staining compared between tumor and non-tumor tissue. In addition, the degree of staining within tumor tissue was compared according to a number of clinicopathological variables.

RESULTS: The degree of staining of CD147 was significantly higher in tumor tissues than non-tumor tissues, even in tumors less than 15 mm in diameter. The expression of this protein was significantly elevated in HCC tissue specimens from patients with a low value of serum AST and γ-GTP.

CONCLUSION: CD147 serves potentially as a pathological target for cancer detection of early HCC.

Keywords: CD147; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Needle biopsy