title: Golgi phosphoprotein 2 (GOLPH2) expression in liver tumors and its value as a serum marker in hepatocellular carcinomas.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) and bile duct carcinomas (BDCs) have a poor prognosis. Therefore, surveillance strategies including sensitive and specific serum markers for early detection are needed. Recently, Golgi Phosphoprotein 2 (GOLPH2) has been proposed as a serum marker for HCC, but GOLPH2 expression data in liver tissues was not available. Using tissue microarrays and immunohistochemistry, we semiquantitatively analyzed GOLPH2 protein expression in patients with HCC (n = 170), benign liver tumors (n = 22), BDC (n = 114) and normal liver tissue (n = 105). A newly designed sandwich enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) was used to analyze GOLPH2 levels in the sera of patients with HCC (n = 62), hepatitis C virus (HCV) (n = 29), BDC (n = 10), and healthy control persons (n = 12). By immunohistochemistry 121/170 (71%) of HCC showed strong GOLPH2 expression, which was significantly associated with a higher tumor grade (P = 0.01). A total of 97/114 (85%) BDCs showed a strong GOLPH2 expression which proved to be an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (P < 0.05). Serum levels of GOLPH2 measured by ELISA were significantly elevated in patients with HCC with underlying HCV infection (median 18 mg/L, P < 0.05) and patients with BDC (median = 14.5 mg/L, P < 0.01) in comparison to healthy controls (median 4 mg/L).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GOLPH2 protein is highly expressed in tissues of HCC and BDC. GOLPH2 protein levels are detectable and quantifiable in sera by ELISA. In patients with hepatitis C, serial ELISA measurements in the course of the disease appear to be a promising complementary serum marker in the surveillance of HCC. GOLPH2 should be further evaluated as a serum tumor marker in BDC on a larger scale.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marc-Oliver
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Riener
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Stenner
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liewen
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Soll
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Breitenstein
authors.forename: Bernhard Cornelius
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Pestalozzi
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Samaras
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Probst-Hensch
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hellerbrand
authors.forename: Beat
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Müllhaupt
authors.forename: Pierre-Alain
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Clavien
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bahra
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Neuhaus
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wild
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fritzsche
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moch
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jochum
authors.forename: Glen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kristiansen
mesh_terms: D018248:Adenoma, Liver Cell / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D001652:Bile Ducts / Q000473:pathology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D020518:Focal Nodular Hyperplasia / Q000378:metabolism*; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C410824:GOLM1 protein, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins