Expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers in locally recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma after radiofrequency ablation

Tajima,Hidehiro; Ohta,Tetsuo; Makino,Isamu; Hayashi,Hironori; Nakagawara,Hisatoshi; Onishi,Ichiro; Takamura,Hiroyuki; Ninomiya,Itasu; Kitagawa,Hirohisa; Fushida,Sachio; Tani,Takashi; Fujimura,Takashi; Kayahara,Masato; Arai,Kuniaki; Yamashita,Tatsuya; Kaneko,Shuichi; Zen,Yoh

doi:10.3892/etm_00000054

Expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers in locally recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma after radiofrequency ablation

Authors:
- Hidehiro Tajima
- Tetsuo Ohta
- Isamu Makino
- Hironori Hayashi
- Hisatoshi Nakagawara
- Ichiro Onishi
- Hiroyuki Takamura
- Itasu Ninomiya
- Hirohisa Kitagawa
- Sachio Fushida
- Takashi Tani
- Takashi Fujimura
- Masato Kayahara
- Kuniaki Arai
- Tatsuya Yamashita
- Shuichi Kaneko
- Yoh Zen
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Affiliations: Department of Gastroenterologic Surgery, Division of Cancer Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-8641, Japan
Published online on: March 1, 2010 https://doi.org/10.3892/etm_00000054
Pages: 347-350

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Abstract

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is reported to be a minimally invasive and effective procedure for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, some cases showing rapid and aggressive recurrence of HCC after RFA have recently been reported. We reviewed 15 resected-HCC patients who developed local recurrence after RFA and in whom tumor dedifferentiation could have been induced by RFA. Additionally, increasing evidence has shown that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) mediates tumor progression. As EMT is a key event in the tumor invasion process, we compared the immunohistochemical expression of mesenchymal markers, i.e., loss of E-cadherin and gain of N-cadherin and vimentin, in 15 patients with local recurrence of HCC after RFA to those in 26 (control) HCCs without local therapy. The percentage of E-cadherin expression loss was significantly higher in the post-RFA cases (60%) than in controls (19.2%) (P=0.02). Although no significant differences were observed in N-cadherin and vimentin expression, vimentin was found only in cases with recurrence after RFA. These findings suggest that heat shock due to RFA may induce EMT of HCC, and that EMT is closely related to aggressive recurrence and dedifferentiation of HCC after RFA.

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