Fascin and cortactin expression is correlated with a poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

OBJECTIVESThe aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fascin and cortactin protein expression and clinicopathological parameters and survival time in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODSA total of 77 specimens of HCC and seven specimens of normal liver tissues were collected. The expressions of fascin and cortactin were examined by immunohistochemical staining. The patients from whom the HCCs were taken were also followed up. In these 74 patients, Kaplan–Meier was used to assess survival outcomes. RESULTSThe data revealed that fascin and cortactin expressions were upregulated in the HCC samples. The positive expression of fascin significantly correlated with histological differentiation and metastasis. The positive expression of cortactin significantly correlated with histological differentiation, metastasis, and T stage (International Union Against Cancer). Survival time of the patients with positive fascin expression and positive cortactin expression was significantly decreased, and the median survival duration was short. CONCLUSIONFascin and cortactin might be important indicators of the malignancy and metastasis of liver cancer, and may have predictive value in the prognosis of HCC.