OPN and αvβ3 expression are predictors of disease severity and worse prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 2; p. e87930
• Main Authors: Jin, Yi, Chen, Jian-ning, Feng, Zhi-ying, Zhang, Zhi-gang, Fan, Wen-zhe, Wang, Yu, Li, Jia-ping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 03.02.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Biology; Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism; Breast cancer; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - metabolism; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - mortality; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - secondary; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell growth; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Humans; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Integrin alphaVbeta3 - metabolism; Liver - metabolism; Liver cancer; Liver Neoplasms - metabolism; Liver Neoplasms - mortality; Liver Neoplasms - pathology; Lung cancer; Lymph nodes; Lymphatic Metastasis; Male; Medical prognosis; Medicine; Metastases; Metastasis; Middle Aged; Multivariate analysis; Neoplasm Staging; Oncology; Osteopontin - metabolism; Pathology; Patients; Portal vein; Prognosis; Proteins; Rodents; Smooth muscle; Survival; Survival Rate; Thrombosis; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087930

Expressions of OPN and αvβ3 are associated with a poor prognosis in many malignancies. However, their relationship in hepatocellular carcinoma remains unclear. We systematically collected hepatocellular carcinoma tissue samples from 305 patients over 3 years, and analyzed the status of OPN and αvβ3 in hepatocellular carcinoma and correlate expression with patient disease status and survival outcome. Our study results indicated that OPN and αvβ3 are expressed at significantly higher rates in hepatocellular carcinoma compared with adjacent non-tumorous tissue (69.5% vs 18.4%, p<0.01 and 77.4% vs 21.6%, p<0.01, respectively). Both OPN and αvβ3 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. Patients expressing OPN and αvβ3 had significantly shorter survival compared with patients negative for protein expression (p<0.01). Multivariate analysis also showed that both OPN and αvβ3 expression are independent prognostic factors for poorer survival in hepatocellular carcinoma. By this study, we conclude that OPN and αvβ3 are negative prognostic predictors in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The expressions of both OPN and αvβ3 are associated with worse survival outcome.