title: α-smooth muscle actin-positive fibroblasts correlate with poor survival in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: The current case-control study was conducted to assess the value of activated fibroblasts with high α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression as an indicator of survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. In total, 47 patients diagnosed with HCC who underwent a liver biopsy at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Memphis, TN, USA) between January 2000 and December 2009, and 10 age- and gender-matched controls with normal liver biopsy samples were included in the study. The immunohistochemical staining for α-SMA was performed and classified qualitatively and quantitatively within tumor stroma and perisinusoidal spaces. HCC patients with high qualitative and quantitative expression of α-SMA revealed a statistically significant negative correlation with 3-year [odds ratio (OR), 0.021 and 0.111; P=0.001 and 0.0302, respectively] and 1.5-year (OR, 0.040 and 0.051; P=0.0330 and 0.0492, respectively) survival rates in comparison with low expression. The results of the present study demonstrated a predictive role of high qualitative and quantitative expression in activated fibroblasts for poor survival in patients with HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
authors.forename: Jignesh G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Parikh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
authors.forename: Anand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kulkarni
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA ; Department of Pathology, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Memphis, TN 38104, USA.
authors.forename: Cameila
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johns
keywords: activated fibroblasts; hepatocellular carcinoma; survival