title: Expression and functional significance of the erythropoietin receptor in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Erythropoietin, through its specific receptor (EpoR), may induce responses in a variety of non-haematopoietic tissues including malignant cells. The purpose of this study was to examine the expression of EpoR in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to correlate the levels of EpoR expression with the clinicopathological properties of HCC and tumour recurrence.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 134 patients who underwent curative hepatectomy for hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related primary HCC. The clinical, laboratory and pathological data from these patients were retrospectively collected. The expression of EpoR mRNA and protein were evaluated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Expression of EpoR mRNA in the cirrhotic liver was positively correlated with tumour cell differentiation and 1-year disease-free survival (74.8% in the high expression group versus 46.9% in the low expression group; P = 0.001), as it was for EpoR mRNA expression in HCC (64.4% in the high expression group versus 52.7% in the low expression group; P = 0.044). Tumour recurrence showed stronger dependence on the expression of EpoR protein in non-malignant cirrhotic livers than in HCC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In HBV-related HCC, the levels of EpoR mRNA and protein in non-tumour cirrhotic livers were positively correlated with tumour cell differentiation, which is a favourable predictor of disease-specific survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Milljae
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Doopyo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Zhengyun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: You Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Wookjong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jae-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Joh
authors.forename: Sung-Joo
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D015153:Blotting, Western; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000821:virology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000821:virology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D017467:Receptors, Erythropoietin / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017467:Receptors, Erythropoietin