L1 cell adhesion molecule overexpression in hepatocellular carcinoma associates with advanced tumor progression and poor patient survival.
OBJECTIVE
L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM), as a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily, has recently been observed in a variety of human malignancies. However, no data of L1CAM are available for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of L1CAM in HCC and determine its correlation with tumor progression and prognosis.


METHODS
One-hundred and thirty HCC patients who had undergone curative liver resection were selected and immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, and quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) were performed to analyze L1CAM expression in the respective tumors.


RESULTS
Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, and Q-PCR consistently confirmed the overexpression of L1CAM in HCC tissues compared with their adjacent nonneoplastic tissues at both protein and gene level (both P <0.01). Additionally, the high expression of L1CAM was significantly associated with advanced tumor stage (P = 0.02) and advanced tumor grade (P = 0.03), respectively. Moreover, HCC patients with high L1CAM expression were significantly associated with lower 5-year overall survival (P <0.01) and lower 5-year disease-free survival (P <0.01), respectively. The Cox proportional hazards model further showed that L1CAM over-expression was an independent poor prognostic factor for both 5-year disease-free survival (P = 0.02) and 5-year overall survival (P = 0.008) in HCC.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest for the first time that L1CAM expression in HCC was significantly correlated with the advanced tumor progression and was an independent poor prognostic factor for both overall survival and disease-free survival in patients with HCC.
The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1970024872761542.
Postgraduate Medical School of PLA, Beijing, 100853, China.
Xiaodong
X
Guo
Lu
L
Xiong
Lin
L
Zou
Ting
T
Sun
Jing
J
Zhang
Hanwei
H
Li
Ruiyun
R
Peng
Jingmin
J
Zhao
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D015153:Blotting, Western; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D039842:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1 / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D015854:Up-Regulation
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D039842:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1; D012333:RNA, Messenger