A study on p16 protein expression and p16 gene deletion in primary hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To study the p16 protein expression and p16 gene deletion in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to evaluate the relationship between p16 gene and HCC. MEHTODS: The expression of p16 protein and the deletion of p16 gene were detected by immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 32 cases of HCC. RESULTS: The loss of p16 protein expression was observed in 20 cases of HCC (62.5%, 20/32) and in 1 case of tumor adjacent tissues (3.13%, 1/32), respectively ( P 0.01). The loss of p16 protein expression was closely correlated with the poor histological differentiation of the tumor ( P 0.01) . The deletion rate of p16 gene in HCC (25%,8/32) was significantly different from that in tumor adjacent hepatic tissues (3.13%, 1/32, P 0.05). CONCLUSION: There is a close relationship between hepatocarcinogenesis and p16 gene inactivation. The expression of p16 protein can be used as an index in predicting the prognosis.