Objective To investigate the expression of CD133 protein in primary lesions of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its clinical significance.Methods The expression of CD133 protein in 190 patients with HCC was detected by immunohistochemical staining ABC method.The correlation of CD133 protein expression with the clinicopathologic parameters and features after operation was analyzed.Results The expression positive rate of CD133 protein in cancer tissues was 22.1％ (42/190).There was significant correlation between the expression of CD133 protein and tumor differentiation (P ＜ 0.001),micro vessel invasion (P =0.016) and hepatitis B virus infection (P =0.024).Univariate analysis of factors demonstrated that differentiation level,lymph node,macro vessel invasion,micro vessel invasion,TNM stage and CD133 expression were correlated with disease-free survival after surgery (all P ＜ 0.05).Multivariate analysis of factors demonstrated that both CD133 expression and micro vessel invasion were independent prognostic factors of disease-free survival after surgery.Prognostic analysis demonstrated that the disease-free survival of CD133 positive group was significantly lower than that of CD133 negative group.Conclusion The CD133 protein expression in HCC tissues is related with development,metastasis and prognosis of HCC.

In this study, the mechanism by which Ad-p27mt inhibits the growth, invasion and metastasis of transplanted liver tumor was studied by examining the effects of Ad-27mt gene transfer on the expression of Bax, Bcl-2, VEGF and MMP-9 in the transplanted liver tumors in nude mice. The model of transplanted hepatic tumor was established in nude mice. The mice were then divided into three groups, which were injected with PBS, Ad-LacZ and Ad-p27mt and the growth of the transplanted liver tumor was observed. The expressions of P27, Bax and Bcl-2 proteins were detected by Western blotting and the expressions of VEGF and MMP-9 were immunohistochemically determined. Our result showed that the tumor size, expressions of Bax, Bcl-2 proteins, VEGF and MMP-9 were all lower than those in PBS and Ad-LacZ groups and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Our study suggested that Ad-p27mt could inhibit the growth, invasion and metastasis of hepatic cancer by lowering the expressions of VEGF and MMP-9.

In this study, the mechanism by which Ad-p27mt inhibits the growth, invasion and metastasis of transplanted liver tumor was studied by examining the effects of Ad-27mt gene transfer on the expression of Bax, Bcl-2, VEGF and MMP-9 in the transplanted liver tumors in nude mice. The model of transplanted hepatic tumor was established in nude mice. The mice were then divided into three groups, which were injected with PBS, Ad-LacZ and Ad-p27mt and the growth of the transplanted liver tumor was observed. The expressions of P27, Bax and Bcl-2 proteins were detected by Western blotting and the expressions of VEGF and MMP-9 were immunohistochemically determined.Our result showed that the tumor size, expressions of Bax, Bcl-2 proteins, VEGF and MMP-9 were all lower than those in PBS and Ad-LacZ groups and the differences were statistically significant (P＜0.05). Our study suggested that Ad-p27mt could inhibit the growth, invasion and metastasis of hepatic cancer by lowering the expressions of VEGF and MMP-9.