Role of Faascin protein in proliferation and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma.

背景：筋膜蛋白是一种肌动蛋白捆绑蛋白，在片状脂膜或丝状基底膜形成后，可诱导膜突起和细胞运动。已有报道称，在多种肿瘤中，Fascin的表达与疾病进展或预后有关，但其在肝细胞癌中的作用尚不清楚。本研究的目的是通过免疫组织化学方法研究筋膜蛋白与临床病理和预后的关系。方法：对137例肝细胞癌患者进行抗筋膜蛋白抗体染色。有明确的胞浆和/或膜性筋膜蛋白免疫反应的肿瘤细胞被定义为筋膜蛋白阳性。结果：免疫组织化学染色显示，23例(16.8%)肝细胞癌有明确的束蛋白免疫反应。有Fasin表达的肿瘤体积较大，分化程度较低(P=0.0239和0.0018)。Fasin阳性组门静脉侵犯、胆管侵犯和肝内转移的发生率明显高于对照组(P分别为0.0029、0.0333和0.0403)。此外，高甲胎蛋白水平与肝癌组织中Fasin的表达显著相关(P=0.0116)。筋膜蛋白阳性组的预后明显差于阴性组，是无病生存的独立预后因素。结论：筋膜蛋白可能成为一种新的肝细胞癌进展标志物和肝细胞癌患者预后不良的重要指标。

BACKGROUND : Fascin is an actin-bundling protein and induces membrane protrusions and cell motility after the formation of lamellipodia or filopodia. Fascin expression has been reported to be associated with progression or prognosis in various neoplasms, but the role of fascin in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic relevance of fascin by immunohistochemistry. METHODS : A total of 137 patients with HCC were stained with anti-fascin antibody. The tumor cells having unequivocal cytoplasmic and/or membranous fascin immunoreactivity were defined as fascin-positive. RESULTS : Immunohistochemically, 23 (16.8%) HCCs having unequivocal fascin immunoreactivity were found. Tumors showing fascin expression were larger and less differentiated than those showing no fascin expression (P=0.0239 and 0.0018, respectively). Portal venous invasion, bile duct invasion, and intrahepatic metastasis were detected significantly more frequently in fascin-positive group (P=0.0029, 0.0333, and 0.0403, respectively). In addition, high alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels were significantly associated with the fascin expression in HCC (P=0.0116). Fascin-positive group had significantly poorer outcomes than fascin-negative group and was an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival. CONCLUSIONS : Fascin might become a novel marker of progression in HCC and a significant indicator of a poor prognosis for patients with HCC.