Clinical significance of p34~(cdc2) expression in hepatocellular carcinoma tissue

AIM: To study the expression of p34 cdc2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the relationship between the expression of p34 cdc2 and the clinicopathological features of hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: Forty-three specimens of hepatocelluar carcinoma tissues (including pericancerous tissues) and ten specimens of healthy hepatocellular tissues were selected. These samples were detected by S-P immunohistochemical method and the clinicopathological features of hepatocellular carcinoma were analyzed. RESULTS: The expression of p34 cdc2 was localized in the cytoplasm and nuclear of cells of HCC tissues and peri-cancerous tissues, brownish yellow and yellow in color. Overexpression of p34 cdc2 was observed in HCC tissues, compared with that in normal liver tissues (P0.05). The positive expression rate of p34 cdc2 in clinical I+II stages was higher than that in III+IV stages (80.0% vs 42.8%, P= 0.026) , and it was also higher in Child-Pugh grade A+B than in grade C (37.8% vs 0.00 %, P=0.004). But there was no statistical association between various pathologic degrees, tumor sizes, lymphatic metastasis and the positive expression rate of p34 cdc2 (P0.05). CONCLUSION: There is an overexpression of p34 cdc2 in HCC, which can be used as a marker for clinical stage and the Child-Pugh grade of HCC.