Expression of Cyclooxygenase-2 and Transforming Growth Factor-Beta 1 in Patients with the Early Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Following Hepatectomy

Takayuki Nakase, Masaki Ueno, Kazuhisa Uchiyama, Nariaki Matsuura, Hiroki Yamaue

Department of Functional Diagnostic Science, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
Second Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/ss.2012.36064                

Abstract

Background: Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1) are modulated in variety cancers including Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there is a paucity of data concerning their role in the pathologic process of recurrence of HCC following hepatectomy. We herein assessed the role of the hepatic expression of COX-2 and TGF-β as predictors for patients with early recurrence within 2 years of HCC diagnosis. Methods: Sixty patients with HCC who underwent curative hepatectomy between 2000 and 2003 were entered in the present study. The immunoreactivity and distribution patterns of COX-2 and TGF-β1 were examined in both the HCC and the adjacent nonHCC tissues of the liver. Risk factors of tumor recurrence within 2 years, including COX-2 and TGF-β1 expression, were investigated by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: Among 60 patients, 31 patients had early recurrences within 2 years and 14 patients recurred after 2 years following surgery. Patients with low COX-2 expression in the HCC tissues and adjacent nonHCC tissues had favorable disease-free survival (p = 0.002 and p < 0.001, respectively) and patients with positive TGF-β1 expression in the nonHCC tissues had also longer disease-free survival (p = 0.045). Based on the expression patterns of COX-2 and TGF-β1, patients with low COX-2 and positive TGF-β1 expression in the nonHCC tissues had favorable overall and disease-free survival (p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Increased COX-2 expression and decreased TGF-β1 signaling in nontumor tissues suggested high risk of recurrence and poor survival to the HCC patients following hepatectomy.

Keywords

Cyclooxygenase-2; Transforming Growth Factor-Beta1; Hepatocellular Carcinoma; Early Recurrence; Hepatectomy

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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