HISTOLOGY AND HISTOPATHOLOGY

Cellular and Molecular Biology

 

Aberrant expression of a fetal glycoprotein 68 in hepatocellular carcinoma: a comparative study on the expression of alpha-fetoprotein and carcinoembryonic antigen

M. Kato1, T. Shinozawa2, S. Kato3 and T. Terada4

1Division of Pathology, Tottori University Hospital, Yonago, 2Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Gunma University, Kiryu, 3Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Neurological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago and 4Department of Pathology, Shimizu Municipal Hospital, Shimizu, Japan

Offprint requests to: Masako Kato M.D., Ph.D., Division of Pathology, Tottori University Hospital, Nishi-cho 36-1, Yonago 683-8504, Japan. Fax: +81-859-34-8390. e-mail: makato@grape.med.tottori-u.ac.jp

 

Summary. A rat IgG2a monoclonal antibody against a stage-specific fetal glycoprotein with a molecular mass of 68 kDa (FGP68) was produced and applied to paraffin sections. This monoclonal antibody was used to compare the expression of FGP68 with that of both alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in 75 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). Seventy-five primary HCCs from patients aged 36 to 77 years were examined. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections were used for immunohistochemical analyses. Histologically, 6 cases of HCC were classified as type I according to the Edmondson and Steiner criteria, 57 cases as type II, and 12 cases as type III. The cancer tissues showed positive reactions with the antibody against FGP68. Approximately one-third of the HCCs (26/75) contained tumor cells that expressed FGP68 -(21/57 for Edmondson and Steiner type II; 4/12 for type III; and 1/6 for type I) - and positive immunoreactivity was observed in the cytoplasm of the cancer cells. Twenty-five of the 75 HCCs had tumor cells that expressed AFP and there was a significant correlation between FGP68 expression and AFP expression. Twenty-three of the 75 HCCs had tumor cells that expressed CEA and there was no significant correlation between FGP68 expression and CEA expression. No positive reactions for FGP68, AFP and CEA were observed in samples of non-neoplastic liver tissues. Based on the possibility that stage-specific FGP68 plays an important role in liver embryogenesis, FGP68-expressing tumor cells might ontogenetically revert to more primitive cells. Histol. Histopathol. 19, 701-706 (2004)

Key words: Fetal glycoprotein 68, Hepatocellular carcinoma, a-fetoprotein, Carcinoembryonic antigen, Immunohistochemistry

DOI: 10.14670/HH-19.701