title: Increased serum autotaxin levels in hepatocellular carcinoma patients were caused by background liver fibrosis but not by carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Controversy exists as to whether autotaxin (ATX) may be importantly associated with pathophysiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated serum ATX levels and its mRNA expression in consecutive 148 HCC patients treated with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and 30 patients with hepatic resection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although increased serum ATX levels were observed in almost all the patients treated with RFA, they were not reduced after RFA. Furthermore, serum ATX levels were associated not with tumor burden but with the parameters predicting for liver fibrosis, such as liver stiffness values. Then, in surgically-treated patients, there was no significant correlation between serum ATX levels and ATX mRNA expression levels in HCC tissues. Notably, ATX mRNA expression levels in HCC tissues were not higher than those in peri-tumorous tissues. Finally, serum ATX levels in surgically-treated HCC patients were rather correlated with ATX mRNA expression levels in peri-tumorous tissues as well as with liver fibrosis stage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The increase in serum ATX levels in HCC patients may not be caused by abundant ATX production in HCC tissues but by fibrosis in the background livers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Mayuko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.affiliation: Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery Division, Department of Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishizawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Enooku
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasunori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tokuhara
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryunosuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ohkawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Baasanjav
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Uranbileg
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hayato
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryosuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tateishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.affiliation: Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery Division, Department of Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kokudo
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koike
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yatomi
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: ikeda-1im@h.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikeda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D010727:Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D047368:Tumor Burden; D000099189:Lysophospholipase D
chemical_list: D010727:Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000099189:Lysophospholipase D
keywords: Autotaxin; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Liver fibrosis; Lysophosphatidic acid