CIP2A expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and its clinicopathological significance

Objective To investigate the expression of cancerous inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A(CIP2A) in human hepatocellular carcinoma and its relation with the clinicopathologic characteristics of the carcinoma.Methods Hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and the corresponding non-tumorous tissues from 60 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were analyzed for CIP2A expression using immunohistochemical staining and RT-PCR.By combining with clinical features of these patients,the relationship between CIP2A mRNA transcription level and clinicopathologic characteristics was studied with statistical analysis.Results CIP2A was expressed in the cell cytoplasm.Immunohistochemical staining showed that the positive expression rate of CIP2A protein was higher in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues than in their corresponding non-tumor tissues(71.7% vs.23.3%,P0.05),and there was no positive staining of CIP2A protein in normal liver tissues from 9 cases of paraffin section.CIP2A mRNA transcription level in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in the corresponding non-tumor tissues(P0.05).The clinicopathologic evaluation revealed that the higher transcription level of CIP2A mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues was correlated with bigger tumor size,poorly-differentiated histologic grades,later clinical TNM stage and metastasis(portal invasion and intrahepatic metastasis) of hepatocellular carcinoma.Conclusion CIP2A is overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma and closely correlated with the malignant clinicopathologic features of the carcinoma.CIP2A may act as a novel biomarker and can be a therapeutic target in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.