title: Correlations between ADC values and molecular markers of Ki-67 and HIF-1α in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Cell proliferativity and hypoxia have important impact on the response to radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values and the molecular markers Ki-67 and hypoxia inducible factor-α (HIF-α) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-seven patients diagnosed with HCC were included in this study. All patients performed diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) before any anticancer treatment. The ADC maps were automatically calculated on a Syngo workstation. The Ki-67 and HIF-1α expression were assessed by immunohistochemistry. The Pearson correlation test was used to assess the correlation between ADC values and Ki-67 and HIF-1α expression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ki-67 staining was clearly identified based on the brown nuclear staining in tumor cells. High Ki-67 expression was correlated with low differentiation (p=0.028). A significant correlation was observed between HIF-1α expression and maximum diameter (p=0.014). The mean ADC value was (0.983±0.21)×10(-3) mm(2)/s. The level of Ki-67 expression was correlated inversely with the ADC values (r=-0.371, p=0.01). There was a significant positive correlation between the ADC values and HIF-1α expression (r=0.389, p=0.007).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ADC values were observed to correlate significantly with the molecular markers Ki-67 and HIF-1α. Our results suggest that the ADC values on DW-MRI may be used as a measure of cell proliferativity and hypoxia in hepatocellular carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jingwu Road 324#, 250021, Jinan City, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhaoqin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The People's Hospital of Haiyang County, China.
authors.forename: Xiuqin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology of Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Jiyan Road 440#, Jinan City, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiangjiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jingwu Road 324#, 250021, Jinan City, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhongyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jingwu Road 324#, 250021, Jinan City, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jingwu Road 324#, 250021, Jinan City, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Qianqian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jingwu Road 324#, 250021, Jinan City, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Qingwei
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jingwu Road 324#, 250021, Jinan City, Shandong Province, China. Electronic address: xjjxrx@sina.com.
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000235:genetics; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C497442:HIF1A protein, human; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen
keywords: Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC); Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI); HIF-1α; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Ki-67