title: Clinical value of alterations in p73 gene, related to p53 at 1p36, in human hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: A novel gene, p73, encoding a protein with significant homology to p53 and showing functional similarities to p53, was identified at chromosome 1p36, at which tumor suppressor gene of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is supposed to be. Involvement of p73 in hepatocarcinogenesis is controversial and clinical value of p73 alterations remains obscure. We investigated allelic status of p73 in 63 patients with HCC. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in p73 was analyzed by PCR-RFLP analysis. The results were compared with LOH on chromosome 1p surrounding p73 locus, mutations of p53 and p73, and clinicopathologic characteristics. LOH on p73 was observed in 33% of informative tumors. LOH in p73 was not always observed between the regions with LOH on chromosome 1p examined despite the significant association of LOH in p73 with LOH on chromosome 1p. No mutations were detected in p73. Tumors with LOH in p73 were more frequently detected in liver without cirrhosis than that with cirrhosis. There was no significant statistic association between the presence of LOH in p73 and six different clinicopathologic characteristics such as age, sex, histological type, T stage, tumor diameter, and virus status. Disease-free survival rates of the patients with LOH in p73 were significantly poorer than those without LOH in p73. Multivariate analysis indicated that presence of LOH in p73 was independent prognostic factor in patients with HCC. These findings suggested that p73 might play some role in tumor progression of HCC even though p73 should not be considered a candidate gene on chromosome 1p of HCC and does not function as a tumor suppressor gene like p53. Identifying the patients with LOH of p73 in tumors could be useful to predict early recurrence and to stratify the patients who need adjuvant therapy after operation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Clinical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, E2, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Taro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marubashi
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nagano
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Umeshita
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Keizo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dono
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakamori
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakon
authors.forename: Morito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monden
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics*; D002878:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 1; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor; D016158:Genes, p53; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D019656:Loss of Heterozygosity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009154:Mutation; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000072160:Tumor Protein p73; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C000606460:TP73 protein, human; D000072160:Tumor Protein p73; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins