Related clinical pathologic correlation analysis of glypican-3 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To investigate the clinical value of glypican-3 (GPC3) in the diaganosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC),the contents of GPC3 in the serum and tissues of HCC patients were detected.Methods ELISA and immunohistochemical staining were applied to detect GPC3 expressing level in the serum and tissues in 79 cases with HCC,35 cases with post-hepatitis cirrhosis and 30 normal liver specimens and the resuits were compared.The influential factor of GPC3 content in the patients with HCC was analyzed by logistic regression model.Results The serum level of GPC3 in patients with HCC was (143.02±40.26) μg/L which was signifcantly higher than that in patients with post-hepatitis cirrhosis [(6.15±4.31) μg/L] and healthy controls [(4.47±3.22) μg/L] (all P ＜ 0.01).The expression levels of GPC3 was signifeantly higher in post-hepatitis cirrhosis tumor-adjacent tissue and tumor-distant tissue.The expression levels of GPC3 was significantly positively correlated with tumor presence of distant mestasis (x2 =13.182,P ＜ 0.0) and clinical stage (x2 =4.250,P ＜ 0.05),and not correlated with sex,age,tumor size and the level of AFP inserum (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion GPC3 is specific the diagnosis of HCC.The joint diagnosis of GPC3 and AFP will improve the sensitivity of HCC.Therefore,GPC3 could as a biomarker for evaluating HCC condition and prognsis. Key words: Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Glypican-3; Diagnosis