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The clinicopathological significance of heat shock protein 70 and glutamine synthetase expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

  • Original article
  • Published:
Journal of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Sciences

Abstract

Background/purpose

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and glutamine synthetase (GS) have been proposed to be promising markers for the differentiation of malignant and benign hepatocellular lesions. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological significance of the expression of HSP70 and GS in surgically resected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods

The authors collected 412 HCC samples and 120 non-neoplastic hepatic tissue samples and performed an immunohistochemical study.

Results

HSP70 staining was observed in 282 of 392 HCC samples (71.9%), and GS immunoreactivity was observed in 212 of 395 HCC cases (53.7%). Of the several clinicopathological parameters examined, microscopic vascular invasion, a large tumor size, and a high Edmonson–Steiner grade were found to be correlated with positive staining for HSP70 (P = 0.032, 0.002, and 0.012, respectively). Survival analysis showed a correlation between HSP70 expression and disease-free survival. GS was not found to be related to clinicopathological parameters.

Conclusions

The findings of the present study suggest that HSP70 be viewed as a predictor of prognosis as well as a useful diagnostic marker for HCC.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grant 0420090660 from the Clinical Institute of Seoul National University Hospital.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, #28 Yongon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-799, Korea

    Eun Shin, Han Suk Ryu, Soo-Hee Kim, Haeyoen Jung, Ja-June Jang & Kyoungbun Lee

Authors
  1. Eun Shin
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  2. Han Suk Ryu
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  3. Soo-Hee Kim
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  4. Haeyoen Jung
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  5. Ja-June Jang
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  6. Kyoungbun Lee
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kyoungbun Lee.

Additional information

E. Shin and H. S. Ryu contributed equally as first authors.

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Shin, E., Ryu, H.S., Kim, SH. et al. The clinicopathological significance of heat shock protein 70 and glutamine synthetase expression in hepatocellular carcinoma. J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Sci 18, 544–550 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00534-010-0367-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00534-010-0367-0

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