Upregulation of Glypican-3 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma but downregulation in cholangiocarcinoma indicates its differential diagnosis value in primary liver cancers.
OBJECTIVE
Expression alteration of Glypican-3 (GPC3) is associated with several malignancies and has been identified as an overexpressed gene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study GPC3 expression in intrahepatic chanlangiocarcinoma (ICC), gallbladder cancer and HCC was quantitatively detected.


METHODS
Real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the expression level of GPC3.


RESULTS
GPC3 expression was elevated more than two-fold in HCC compared with adjacent tissue in 90 of 100 HCC cases. The average expression level of GPC3 was significantly higher in HCC than that in adjacent liver tissues (P<0.0001). Only in four of 21 ICC cases GPC3 expression was upregulated more than two-fold in tumor tissues. GPC3 expression was downregulated in gallbladder cancer in 12 of 13 cases and the average expression level was significantly lower than that in normal gallbladder tissues (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The different expression patterns of GPC3 in HCC and ICC suggested that it might play a different role in theses tumors and could serve as a biomarker for differential diagnosis of HCC and ICC.
Man
Xiao-Bo
XB
International Co-operation Laboratory on Signal Transduction, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Institue, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200-438, China.
Tang
Liang
L
Zhang
Bao-Hua
BH
Li
Shen-Jing
SJ
Qiu
Xiu-Hua
XH
Wu
Meng-Chao
MC
Wang
Hong-Yang
HY
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D001653:Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D018281:Cholangiocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D053673:Glypicans; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
C105937:GPC3 protein, human; D053673:Glypicans; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins