MWA results in lower DFS rates than RES for HCC conforming to Milan criteria. However, the OS rates are comparable between the two therapies. For solitary HCC ≤ 3 cm, MWA is as effective as RES.

GP73 expression pattern suggests that the regulatory mechanism of GP73 is related to the progression of chronic liver diseases. Furthermore, a high level of tGP73 is a favorable prognostic factor for HCC.

No abstract

e15050 Background: Serum golgi protein73 (sGP73) is a novel biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there are few reports on the pattern of GP73 expression in the progression of benign liver diseases to precancerous lesions and HCC. This study aimed to investigate GP73 expression and it correlation with clinicopathologic parameters. Methods: Tissue GP73 (tGP73) levels were detected in specimens of group A (n=186) including HCC (n=62), peritumoral tissue (PTL) (n=43), high/low-grade hepatic atypical hyperplasia (AH) (n=32/2), chronic hepatitis B (CHB) (n=42) and normal controls (NC) (n=5) by immunohistochemistry, and GP73 expression in group B (n=159) and group C (n=16) were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot respectively. sGP73 levels were detected in subjects of group D (n=287) by ELISA. Results: GP73 expression increased gradually from NC, CHB, PTL to high-grade AH and HCC at both protein and mRNA levels (P<0.05), while sGP73 in HCC group was lower than in liver cirrhosis (LC) group (P<0.001). Both tGP73 and sGP73 levels were negatively associated with tumor size and TNM stage, and tGP73 levels were positively associated with tumor differentiation. The high-tGP73 group showed significantly better overall and disease-free survival than low-tGP73 group (P=0.008, P=0.018). Multivariate analysis revealed that the tGP73 level was an independent prognostic factor for HCC, but not sGP73. Conclusions: GP73 increases gradually in the progression ofbenign liver diseases to precancerous lesions and HCC. This expression pattern suggests the regulatory mechanism of GP73 is related to the progression of chronic liver diseases. Furthermore, a high level of tGP73 is a favorable prognostic factor for HCC.