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. 2013 Nov 12;10(13):1868-75.
doi: 10.7150/ijms.6868. eCollection 2013.

FGFR4 and TGF-β1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma: correlation with clinicopathological features and prognosis

Zhixin Chen  1 , Bao Xie, Qinhua Zhu, Qinghai Xia, Songmin Jiang, Ruoyu Cao, Lihua Shi, Dansi Qi, Xiaokun Li, Lin Cai
Affiliations

FGFR4 and TGF-β1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma: correlation with clinicopathological features and prognosis

Zhixin Chen et al. Int J Med Sci. .

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the expression and correlation of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the relationship with clinicopathological features and prognosis.

Materials and methods: The expression of TGF-β1 and FGFR4 in 126 HCC samples was detected immunohistochemically. Combined with clinical postoperative follow-up data, the expression of TGF-β1 and FGFR4 in HCC and the relationship with the prognosis of patients were analyzed by statistically.

Results: The positive expression rate of TGF-β1 was 84.1% (106/126) in tumors, and that in peritumoral liver tissues was 64.3% (81/126); the positive expression rate of FGFR4 in tumors was 74.6% (94/126) and that in peritumoral liver tissues was 57.1% (72/126). The expression of TGF-β1 and FGFR4 in the carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in peritumoral liver tissues (p < 0.05). Intratumoral TGF-β1 and FGFR4 expression was associated with TNM stage (p < 0.05). TGF-β1 and FGFR4 expression levels didn't significantly correlate with other clinicopathological parameters, including age, sex, tumor size, serum AFP level, tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, etc. (p > 0.05). TGF-β1 expression was positively correlated with FGFR4 expression (r = 0.595, p < 0.05). Patients with positive FGFR4 or TGF-β1 expression had shorter overall survival compared with negative expression (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: The expression of TGF-β1 and FGFR4 could make synergy on the occurrence and progression of HCC, and may be used as prognosis indicators for HCC patients.

Keywords: FGFR4; TGF-β1; hepatocellular carcinoma; immunohistochemistry; prognosis..

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Immunohistochemical staining of TGF-β1 and FGFR4 in liver cancer tissues. No staining was detected for (A) TGF-β1 and (B) FGFR4 in the blank control group. (C) Weak cytoplasmic staining of TGF-β1 in tumor cells and some stromal cells. (D) Weak FGFR4 staining in tumor cells. (E) High TGF-β1 staining in tumor cells. (F) High FGFR4 staining in tumor cells and weak staining in stromal cells. (Arrowhead indicated the tumor cells and arrow indicated the stromal cells). (All photos are shown at × 400 magnification).
Fig 2
Fig 2
Comparison of the immunostaining patterns between (A) TGF-β1 and (B) FGFR4 in liver cancer tissues (× 100).
Fig 3
Fig 3
Kaplan- Meier curves with univariate analyses (log- rank) for patients with (A) negative TGF-β1 expression versus positive TGF-β1 expression and (B) negative FGFR4 expression versus positive FGFR4 expression in hepatocarcinoma patients.
Fig 4
Fig 4
Kaplan- Meier curves with univariate analyses (log- rank) for patients with TGF-β1-positive/FGFR4-positive, TGF-β1-positive/FGFR4-negative, TGF-β1-negative/FGFR4-positive, and TGF-β1-negative/FGFR4-negative hepatocarcinoma patients.
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