Bcl2 and c-erbB-3 as Prognostic Markers of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Fouad, Hanan; Eldemery, Ahmed

doi:10.21608/besps.2010.36180

Bcl2 and c-erbB-3 as Prognostic Markers of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Hanan Fouad ¹
Ahmed Eldemery ²

¹ Medical Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University

² Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Medicine, October 6 University

10.21608/besps.2010.36180

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate gene expression profile of c-erbB-3 and
bcl2 in hepatocellular carcinoma patients (HCC) with and without associated
hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Forty eight subjects were included in the study and
divided equally into 2 groups: Group 1 involved HCC subjects with associated HCV
infection and group 2 involved HCC subjects without HCV associated infection.
Adjacent para-cancerous tissues were examined as control samples. Correlations
with various clinico-pathological parameters of the tumor were assessed; stage,
tumor size, intra-hepatic metastasis and carcinoma differentiation. c-erbB-3
oncogene was expressed in 83.33% (40/48) of total HCC samples and in 31.25%
(15/48) of the noncancerous lesions. c-erbB-3 was expressed in 87.5% (21/24) of
HCC samples with associated HCV infection and in 79.16% (19/24) of HCC without
associated HCV infection. Gene expression of c-erbB-3 was significantly correlated
to the clinico-pathological parameters of the tumor. As regards bcl2 gene expression,
the gene was expressed in 20.8% (10/48) of total HCC samples and in the paracancerous
lesions. Bcl2 was expressed in 20.8% (5/24) of HCC samples with and
without HCV associated infection. Gene expression of bcl2 did not show significant
correlations to the clinico-pathological parameters of the tumor. In conclusion,
expression profile of c-erbB-3 in hepatocellular carcinoma patients could be used as
a prognostic molecular marker in HCC.

Keywords