OBJECTIVETo evaluate the relationship between PAR1 (Protease-Activated Receptor 1) expression and the clinicopathologic features and to investigate the prognostic value of PAR1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in early stage after curative resection.

METHODSReal-time PCR was used to detect PAR1 expression in 41 pairs of tumors and matched peritumoral samples of HCC in early stage. Prognostic value of PAR1 mRNA expression was evaluated. Meanwhile, another 49 tissue paraffin slices of HCC were tested using immunohistochemistry (Envision) and the prognostic value of PAR1 expression and other clinicopathologic factors were evaluated.

RESULTSPeritumoral PAR1 mRNA expression was significantly increased in HCCs from the patients with tumor recurrence as compared with those without recurrence (P < 0.05). Peritumoral PAR1 protein expression was related to tumor differentiation (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that Peritumoral PAR1 protein expression was associated with the overall survival (OS) (P < 0.05) of HCC patients and the time to recurrence (TTR) (P < 0.05). The 1, 3 and 5 -year overall survival time and the cumulative recurrence time in the high PAR1 protein expression group were significantly lower as compared to the low PAR1 expression group in the peritumoral liver tissue.

CONCLUSIONSPeritumoral PAR1 expression is closely associated with the prognosis of early stage HCC patients after curable surgery. PAR1 may be involved in thrombin-mediated invasion process and may be used as a prognostic marker for HCC.