EpCAM as a Predictive Marker of Tumor Recurrence and Survival in Patients Who Underwent Surgical Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is expressed in hepatic progenitor cells and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and is considered a marker of liver cancer stem cells. A total of 262 patients were enrolled who had undergone surgical resection for HCC, with immunohistochemical staining results for EpCAM. The immunohistochemical expression of EpCAM and other stemness-related markers was evaluated as prognosticators of tumor recurrence and survival in patients who underwent surgical resection for HCC. A multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that tumor size [hazard ratio (HR)=2.26, p=0.005], intrahepatic metastasis (HR=2.31, p=0.011), and EpCAM positivity (HR=1.74, p=0.038) were associated with tumor recurrence. In a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, patients with EpCAM-positive tumors had a significantly higher tumor recurrence rate and a reduced overall survival compared to those with EpCAM-negative tumors. Immunohistochemical expression of EpCAM was identified as a poor prognosticator of recurrence and survival after surgical resection in patients with HCC.