title: Down-regulated expression of the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha and beta genes in human hepatocellular carcinoma: a possible prognostic marker.
abstract: CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBP alpha) and C/EBP beta, liver specific transcription factors, are involved in hepatocyte proliferation and differentiation. The expression level of the C/EBP alpha and C/EBP beta genes were examined between tumor and non-tumorous tissues of the same hepatocellular carcinoma patients with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions. The expression of both the C/EBP alpha and C/EBP beta genes was down-regulated in the majority of the tumor specimens compared with corresponding non-tumorous tissues. Patients whose expression of either C/EBP alpha or C/EBP beta was higher in tumors than non-tumorous tissues survived longer than those whose expression was lower in tumors. Higher expression of C/EBP alpha or C/EBP beta in tumors was reversibly correlated with the tumor size and progression of the clinical stage. These data imply that the comparison of C/EBP alpha and C/EBP beta expression between tumors and non-tumorous regions could be a prognostic marker for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology, Chiba Cancer Center Research Institute, Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan. nihminor-cib@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomizawa
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Hiromitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saisho
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakagawara
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tagawa
mesh_terms: D022763:CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D022782:CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-beta / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D018450:Disease Progression; D015536:Down-Regulation; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D022763:CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-alpha; D022782:CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-beta