Glypican-3 expression and its relationship with recurrence of HCC after liver transplantation

AIM： To investigate the diagnostic value of glypican-3 （GPC3） and its relationship with hepatocellular carci- noma （HCC） recurrence after liver transplantation. METHODS： HCC tissue samples （n = 31） obtained from patients who had undergone liver transplantation were analyzed. GPC3 mRNA and protein expression were analyzed by TaqMan real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. Correlation between the GPC3 expression and clinicopathological features was analyzed. The potential prognostic value of GPC3 was investigated by comparing recurrence-free survival between HCC patients with and without GPC3 expression. RESULTS： Using a cutoff value of 3.5× 10^-2, 20 of 31 cancerous tissues had expression values of 〉 3.5× 10^2, whereas 3 of 31 adjacent non-neoplastic paren-chyma and 0 of 20 control liver tissues had expression values of 〉 3.5 × 10^-2 （P 〈 0.001）. GPC3 protein was immunoexpressed in 68% of cancerous tissues, but not in adjacent non-neoplastic parenchyma and control liver tissues. Vascular invasion was significantly related to GPC3 expression （P 〈 0.05）. Recurrence-free sur- vival was significantly longer for patients without GPC3 mRNA overexpression （〉 3.5 × 10^2） and those without vascular invasion （P 〈 0.05 for both）. CONCLUSION： GPC3 expression may serve as a valuable diagnostic marker for HCC. GPC3 mRNA overexpression may be an adverse indicator for HCC patients after liver transplantation.