title: Glypican-3 is a prognostic factor and an immunotherapeutic target in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Glypican-3 (GPC3) is a cell surface oncofetal proteoglycan that is anchored by glycosylphosphatidylinositol. Whereas GPC3 is abundant in fetal liver, its expression is hardly detectable in adult liver. Importantly, GPC3 is overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and several immunohistochemical studies reported that overexpression predicts a poorer prognosis for HCC patients. Therefore, GPC3 would serve as a useful molecular marker for HCC diagnosis and also as a target for therapeutic intervention in HCC. Indeed, some immunotherapy protocols targeting GPC3 are under investigations; those include humanized anti-GPC3 cytotoxic antibody, peptide vaccine and immunotoxin therapies. When considering the clinical requirements for GPC3-targeting therapy, companion diagnostics to select the appropriate HCC patients are critical, and both immunohistochemical analysis of tissue sections and measurement of serum GPC3 level have been suggested for this purpose. This review summarizes current knowledge regarding the clinical implication of GPC3 detection and targeting in the management of patients with HCC.
authors.affiliation: Yukihiro Haruyama, Hiroaki Kataoka, Section of Oncopathology and Regenerative Biology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-1692, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Haruyama
authors.affiliation: Yukihiro Haruyama, Hiroaki Kataoka, Section of Oncopathology and Regenerative Biology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-1692, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kataoka
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D018450:Disease Progression; D015870:Gene Expression; D053673:Glypicans / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C105937:GPC3 protein, human; D053673:Glypicans
keywords: Companion diagnostics; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Glypican-3; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Immunohistochemistry; Prognosis