Expressions of drug resistance gene proteins and Ki67 in primary liver cancer and their value in prognosis

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expressions of 4 drug resistance gene proteins P-glycoprotein (Pgp), Glutathionine-S-Transferase π (GST-π), topoisomerase Ⅱ (TopoⅡ) and thymidylate synthase (TS) and Ki67 in primary liver cancer (PLC) and their value in the prognosis of patients. Methods Samples were collected from 41 patients with PLC in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University between March 2008 and December 2016. The informed consents of all patients were obtained and the local ethical committee approval was received. There were 26 males and 15 females, with an average age of (56±10) years old. The expressions of Pgp, GST-π, Topo Ⅱ, TS and Ki67 in PLC tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. Correlation analysis was conducted using Spearman correlation analysis. Survival rate was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test. Prognostic factors of these patients were analyzed by Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results Positive expressions of Pgp, GST-π, Topo Ⅱ, TS and Ki67 were detected in PLC tissues, and the positive expression rate was 73% (30/41), 7% (3/41), 61% (25/41), 39% (16/41) and 51% (21/41), respectively. The expression of TS was positively correlated with those of Pgp and Topo Ⅱ (rs=0.484, 0.333; P<0.05). Survival analysis showed that there were significant differences in the survival between TS, Ki67 positive and negative patients (χ2=4.695, 5.784; P<0.05). Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that TS and Ki67 were the independent risk factors for the overall prognosis (HR=3.007, 17.108; P<0.05). Conclusions Expressions of Pgp, GST-π, Topo Ⅱ and TS can be detected in PLC. The expression of TS is positively correlated with those of Pgp and Topo Ⅱ. TS and Ki67 are the independent risk factors for the prognosis of patients. Key words: Multidrug resistance-associated proteins; P-Glycoprotein; Glutathione S-transferase pi; DNA topoisomerases; Thymidylate synthase; Liver neoplasms; Prognosis; Risk factors