Expression and Significance of Sex Hormone Receptors in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Adjacent Normal Tissues

Objective To investigate the expression and significance of estrogen receptors(ER)and androgen receptors(AR)in hepatocellular carcinoma and adjacent normal tissues.Methods Liver samples of 45 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma admitted to Haian Hospital affiliated to Nantong University from 2007 to 2009 were collected and 45 samples of carcinoma tissues and adjacent tissues(5 cm from carcinoma)were collected respectively.RT-PCR method was used to detect mRNA expression of ER and AR,fluorescence comparison method was used to quantitatively analyze mRNA,electrophoresis of RT-PCR products was performed to qualitatively analyze,WB method was used to detect protein expression of ER and AR.Results ER mRNA had positive expression in 37 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and 25 cases of adjacent tissues,and the difference was statistically significant(χ2=3.986,P0.05).The positive expression rate of ER mRNA showed statistically significant differences in patients with difference carcinoma differentiation level,different sex,having serosal invasion or not,different carcinoma diameters and having positive HBsAg or not(P0.05).AR mRNA had positive expression in 38 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and 23 cases of adjacent tissues,and the difference was statistically significant(χ2=11.447,P0.05).The positive expression rate of AR mRNA showed statistically significant differences in patients with different serosal invasion status and different carcinoma diameters(P0.05).The relative expression levels of ER mRNA in carcinoma tissues and adjacent tissues were(0.2746±0.0828)and(0.1891±0.0536)respectively,and the difference was statistically significant(t=5.8149,P0.05).While the relative expression levels of AR mRNA in carcinoma tissues and adjacent tissues were(0.4642±0.2204)and(0.1987±0.1719)respectively,and the difference was statistically significant(t=6.3720,P0.05).mRNA electrophoresis showed that some of the patients had ER and AR expression in both the carcinoma tissues and adjacent tissues,while some other patients only had ER or AR expression in carcinoma tissues or adjacent tissues.ER had positive expression in 41 cases of carcinoma tissues and 18 cases of adjacent tissues,and the difference was statistically significant(χ2=26.031,P0.05).AR had positive expression in 43 cases of carcinoma tissues and 17 cases of adjacent tissues,and the difference was statistically significant(χ2=33.800,P0.05).The relative expression levels of ER in carcinoma tissues and adjacent tissues were(0.68±0.02)and(0.51±0.01)respectively,and the difference was statistically significant(t=8.84,P0.05).The expression levels of ER showed statistically significant differences in patients with different sex,having serosal invasion or not and having positive HBsAg or not(P0.05).While the relative expression levels of AR in carcinoma tissues and adjacent tissues were(0.73±0.01)and(0.49±0.01)respectively,and the difference was statistically significant(t=9.12,P0.05).The expression levels of AR showed statistically significant differences in patients with different carcinoma differentiation level,different sex,different carcinoma diameter and having positive HBsAg or not(P0.05).Protein electrophoresis showed that the expression levels of ER and AR in carcinoma tissues were significantly higher than those in adjacent tissues.Conclusion The positive expression rate of mRNA and protein levels of sex hormone receptors are high in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and are closely related to carcinoma diameter,carcinoma differentiation level,serosal invasion,sex and HBV infection.Since it plays an important role in the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma,study on the expression of sex hormone receptor in peripheral blood and its mechanism is conducive to the diagnosis,treatment and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma,and it may become a potential therapeutic target in treating the disease.