Akt2 expression correlates with prognosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma.
Akt, a down-stream target of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, plays multiple roles in carcinogenesis. To elucidate its role in hepatocarcinogenesis, we immunohistochemically investigated the expression of Akt protein (Akt1 and Akt2) in tumor and non-tumor tissues from 56 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). High expression of Akt2 in HCC tissues was detected in 21 cases (38%) while Akt1 expression was moderate or less in all cases. Low expression of Akt2 was associated with histopathological differentiation, portal invasion and number of tumor nodules (p=0.026, 0.023, and 0.001, respectively). Univariate analysis showed that Akt2, histopathological differentiation, and portal vein invasion were significant prognostic factors (p=0.001, 0.028, and 0.006, respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that in addition to histopathological differentiation, Akt2 was an independent prognostic marker (risk ratio for cancer relapse, 6.35, p=0.012). In contrast, Akt1 expression did not correlate with any clinicopathological features. Our findings suggest that Akt2, but not Akt1, is a novel independent predictor for the development and progression of HCC.
Xu
Xundi
X
Department of Surgery and Clinical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Sakon
Masato
M
Nagano
Hiroaki
H
Hiraoka
Nobuaki
N
Yamamoto
Hirofumi
H
Hayashi
Nobuyasu
N
Dono
Keizo
K
Nakamori
Shoji
S
Umeshita
Koji
K
Ito
Yasuhiro
Y
Matsuura
Nariaki
N
Monden
Morito
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015153:Blotting, Western; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis