Expression and clinical value of NRP-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To determine the expression and clinical value of neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods One hundred and fifty-one cases of HCC tissues and 89 cases of healthy liver tissues were chosen to compare the expression of NRP-1 by immunohistochemistry. Then the relationships between different clinical factors and the expression of NRP-1 were analyzed by univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. Moreover, the survival rates were compared by survival analysis between different expressions of NRP-1 in HCC patients. Results Eleven cases were lost to follow-up or died for non HCC disease, and the effective cases in the final study were 140 cases. The positive expression rates of NRP-1 in HCC and normal liver tissues were 65.00% and 35.96% respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (χ2=18.843, P<0.001). According to the expression level of NRP-1, 140 patients with HCC were divided into negative expression group (n=49) and positive expression group (n=91). Univariate analysis showed that the expression of NRP-1 in HCC was correlated with tumor number (χ2=8.025, P=0.005), TNM stage (χ2=26.467, P<0.001), differentiation degree (χ2=15.296, P<0.001), portal vein invasion (χ2=9.054, P=0.003) and hepatic vein invasion (χ2=5.928, P=0.015). Multivariate statistical analysis showed that TNM stage (OR=1.392, 95%CI: 1.121-1.730, χ2=8.950, P=0.003), differentiation degree (OR=1.469, 95%CI: 1.102-1.958, χ2=6.862, P=0.009), portal vein invasion (OR=1.829, 95%CI: 1.157-2.893, χ2=6.665, P=0.010) and hepatic vein invasion (OR=2.161, 95%CI: 1.172-3.987, χ2=6.084, P=0.014) were important factors for NRP-1 expression. The median survival time of NRP-1 negative HCC patients was significantly longer than that of positive group (44 months vs. 23 months), and the difference was statistically significant (χ2=21.922, P<0.001). Conclusion NRP-1 is over-expression in HCC tissue and related to the malignant progress of HCC, and this suggests poor prognosis in patients with HCC. Key words: Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Neuropilin-1; Survival rate; Gene expression