Expression and clinical significance of hepatocellular cancer antigen genes in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To investigate the expression of four hapatocellular cancer antigen (HCA) gene mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods The expression of HCA90?HCA519?HCA520?HCA587 mRNA was detected using RT PCR in HCC tissues and the corresponding adjacent non HCC tissues from 46 HCC patients, cirrhosis tissues from 10 samples and normal liver tissues from 10 samples. The relationship between positive expression rate of HCA gene and clinical and lab data was evaluated. Results Of 46 HCC tissues, HCA90?HCA519?HCA520 and HCA587 mRNA were detectable in 65 2%?76 1%%?45 7% and 32 6%, respectively. At least one HCA gene mRNA was positive in 82 6% of HCC tissues. Only weak expression of HCA519 could be detectable in 6 5% of the corresponding adjacent non HCC tissues. None of 10 samples of cirrhosis and normal liver tissues expressed any HCA gene mRNA. No correlation was found between the expression of HCA and clinical date such as age, sex, tumor size, tumor differentiation, serum α fetoprotein level and hepatitis B virus infection or hepatitis C virus infection ( P 0 05). However, in some patients with normal serum α fetoprotein (25 ng/L), specific expression of HCA genes was observed. Conclusion HCA gene mRNA is expressed with a high percentage and specificity in hepatocellular carcinomas and their products are new potential promising targets for immunotherapy of HCC.