The role of heat shock protein 27 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma in Japan: special reference to the difference between hepatitis B and C.

BACKGROUND

A recent report showed that heat shock protein (HSP)-27 expression was related to histological grade and survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

AIMS

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of expression of HSP-27 on clinicopathological variables in Japanese patients with HCC.

METHODS

An immunohistochemical study for HSP-27 was performed on 60 HCC cases using a monoclonal anti-HSP-27 antibody. We divided 60 patients into two groups, patients with a low expression of HSP-27 (n = 34) and those with a high expression of HSP-27 (n = 26). Forty patients tested positive for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody and 20 tested positive for the hepatitis B surface antigen.

RESULTS

There appeared to be no relationship between HSP expression and clinicopathologic factors and no differences were observed between the high expression group and the low expression group. In the hepatitis B virus (HBV) group (n = 20), HSP-27 expression correlated significantly with prognosis, disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival. High expression was significantly associated with poor prognosis in the HBV group. In contrast, patients with a high expression tended to have a good prognosis in the HCV group (n = 40): DFS and overall survival.

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed the possibility that HSP-27 plays different roles in HBV- and HCV-associated HCCs.