Gradually increased Golgi protein 73 expression in the progression of benign liver diseases to precancerous lesions and hepatocellular carcinoma correlates with prognosis of patients.

Aim Serum Golgi protein 73 (s GP73) 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 its correlation with clinicopathological parameters. Methods Tissue GP73 (t GP73) levels were detected in specimens of group A ( n = 186) including HCC, peritumoral tissue ( PTL), high/low-grade hepatic atypical hyperplasia ( AH), chronic hepatitis B ( CHB) and normal controls ( NC) by immunohistochemistry, and GP73 expression in group B ( n = 159) and group C ( n = 16) were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot, respectively. s GP73 levels were detected in subjects of group D ( n = 287) by enzyme-linked immunoassay. Results GP73 expression increased gradually from NC, CHB, PTL to high-grade AH and HCC at both protein and m RNA levels ( P < 0.05), while s GP73 in the HCC group was lower than in the liver cirrhosis ( LC) group ( P < 0.001). Both t GP73 and s GP73 levels were negatively associated with tumor size and tumor-node-metastasis stage, and t GP73 levels were positively associated with tumor differentiation. The high-t GP73 group showed significantly better overall and disease-free survival than the low-t GP73 group ( P = 0.008, P = 0.018). Multivariate analysis revealed that the t GP73 level was an independent prognostic factor for HCC, but not s GP73. Conclusion GP73 expression pattern suggests that the regulatory mechanism of GP73 is related to the progression of chronic liver diseases. Furthermore, a high level of t GP73 is a favorable prognostic factor for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]