Expression Of Thrombin In Hepatocellular Carcinoma And Its Clinical Significance

Objective To investigate the expression of Thrombin,VEGF and CD34in hepatocellular carcinoma, and analyze the relationships among their expressions and clinicopathologic features of HCC.Methods In hepatocellular carcinoma and their neighboring noncancerous tissues from HCC patients,the expression1evels of Thrombin and VEGF were assessed by immunohistochemical method and Western blot, and the microvessel density (MVD)marked by CD34was calculated.Results1.The expression levels of Thrombin and VEGF were increased in hepatocellular carcinoma as compared with their neighboring noncancerous tissues (P<0.05),and Thrombin expression was positively correlated with VEGF expression (r=0.333,P<0.05) in hepatocellular carcinoma.2. The expression of Thrombin in HCC was remarkably related with postoperative recurrence(P <0.05).3. MVD was related with tumor size, portal vein tumor thrombosis, tumor capsule(P<0.05), and its expression was positively correlated with Thrombin expression4.MST were significantly shorter in patients with higher Thrombin expression level than that in patients with lower Thrombin expression level (P<0.05)Conclusions Thrombin and VEGF are highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues. Thrombin was positively correlated with VEGF level. Thrombin is related with postoperative recurrence, and positively correlated with MVD. It suggests that Thrombin, which is remarkably related with VEGF, might has an effect on progression and prognosis of HCC through promoting angiogenesis.