Co-expression of PDGF-B and VEGFR-3 strongly correlates with poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma patients after hepatectomy

Summary Background The ability to evaluate the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients following hepatectomy with biological markers is of great importance. Methods In this study, we collected samples from 90 patients with HCC after hepatectomy. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of PDGF-B and VEGFR-3 in these HCC samples. Results According to the immunohistochemical results, PDGF-B and VEGFR-3 staining were significantly associated with clinical features. Additionally, a significant association between high PDGF-B and VEGFR-3 levels and shorter overall survival was noted, when PDGF-B and VEGFR-3 co-expression been analyzed. Conclusion These results suggest that the correlative expression level of PDGF-B and VEGFR-3 has strong value in the prognosis of HCC patients following hepatectomy.