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High Expression of CCL20 Is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Curative Resection

  • Original Article
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Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery

Abstract

Introduction

Chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20) plays an important role in the carcinogenesis, invasion, and progression of malignancies. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of CCL20 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative resection.

Methods

Expression of CCL20 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in tumor tissue from 125 patients who underwent curative resection of HCC. The relationship between CCL20 expression and clinicopathologic features was analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate its predictive value for tumor recurrence and survival of HCC patients.

Results

CCL20 expression was verified in all tumor specimens. CCL20 expression was associated with tumor size (P = 0.002), tumor number (P = 0.031), vascular invasion (P = 0.003), tumor differentiation (P = 0.024), and tumor recurrence (P < 0.001). Patients with high CCL20 expression had poorer recurrence-free survival and overall survival (both P < 0.001) than those with low CCL20 expression. Multivariate analysis showed CCL20 expression was an independent predictor of tumor recurrence (Hazard ratio 3.934, P = 0.002), recurrence-free survival (Hazard ratio 2.573, P = 0.001), and overall survival (Hazard ratio 2.930, P = 0.001).

Conclusion

CCL20 expression was associated with tumor recurrence and survival of HCC patients. It may be used to predict prognosis of patients with HCC and may be a new target of postoperative adjuvant therapy.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Foundation for Outstanding Young Scientists in Shandong Province (Grant Number: 2008BS03026). We would like to thank Dr. Jiankang Zhu (Qilu Hospital, Shandong University) for his excellent technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, 107 Wenhua ** Road, **an, 250012, People’s Republic of China

    **angjiu Ding, Kexin Wang, Guangyong Zhang, Qingyun Yang, Weijie Chen & Sanyuan Hu

  2. Institute of Cell Therapy, Shandong University, 107 Wenhua ** Road, **an, 250012, People’s Republic of China

    Hui Wang

  3. Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 9SY, UK

    Ya**g Liu

Authors
  1. **angjiu Ding
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  2. Kexin Wang
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  5. Ya**g Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sanyuan Hu.

Additional information

**angjiu Ding and Kexin Wang contributed equally to this work.

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Ding, X., Wang, K., Wang, H. et al. High Expression of CCL20 Is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Curative Resection. J Gastrointest Surg 16, 828–836 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11605-011-1775-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11605-011-1775-4

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