Significance and expression of adhesion molecule CD54, CD44 and E cadherin in primary hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To assess the relationship of adhesion molecule expression with the biological behavior of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Expression of adhesion molecule CD54, CD44, E cadherin and PCNA were studied with immunohistochemistry technique in 49 cases of HCC. Results In non tumor hepatocytes, positive expression of E cadherin was found, but CD54 and CD44 staining were negative. In tumour tissues, the positive expression rate of CD54 and CD44 were of 85.7%(42/49) and 81.6% (40/49) respectively, while E cadherin expression rate was of 34.7%(17/49). CD54 and CD44 expression revealed no obvious relation with differertiation of tumor(P0.05), but had relation with metastasis (P0.05). E cadherin expression was strongly correlated with both tumor differentiation and metastasis (P0.05). PCNA proliferation index was correlated to E cadherin expression, but revealed no correlation to CD54 and CD44 expression.Conclusions Adhesion molecules CD54, CD44 and E cadherin can be used as indices for evaluation of the biological behavior of HCC.