Abstract

BACKGROUND
Apolipoprotein D (Apo D) has recently been identified as a novel tumor suppressor gene. Apo D may have a profound effect on the carcinogenesis and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma. This study was designed to evaluate the expression of Apo D in hepatocellular carcinoma and to investigate the relationship between the expression of Apo D and the clinicopathological characteristics and the patients' survival.
METHODS
An immunohistochemical study was performed on the tumors and tissues from 43 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with controls to determine the expression of Apo D protein.
RESULTS
Our data showed that a higher expression of Apo D was seen in 10 of 43 cases (23.3%), while a lower and no expression of Apo D was observed in 28 of 43 cases (65.1%) and 5 of 43 cases (11.6%), respectively. A reduced expression of Apo D was correlated with the tumor stage (p = 0.037) and tumor size (p = 0.017). However, the patients' 5-year survival was not associated with the expression of Apo D (p = 0.903).
CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that a reduced Apo D protein expression may play an important role in HCC progression as associated with the tumor stage and size, but it does not affect the survival of HCC patients.

• Keywords: Carcinoma, hepatocellular;Apolipoproteins D;Disease progression