mPGES-1 expression in non-cancerous liver tissue impacts on postoperative recurrence of HCC

Table 1 Microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and non-cancerous liver tissue n (%)

	No. of cases	Patients with higher scores	Patients with lower scores	Scores (mean ± SD)	P
Hepatocellular carcinoma tissues
Well differentiated	18	7/18 (38.9)	11/18 (61.1)	5.1 ± 2.7	-
Moderately differentiated	40	14/40 (35.0)	26/40 (65.0)	5.1 ± 1.7	0.959a
Poorly differentiated	6	0	6/6 (100)	3.0 ± 1.8	0.009a
Non-cancerous liver tissues
Normal	2	1/2 (50.0)	1/2 (50.0)	3.3 ± 0.7	-
Chronic hepatitis	31	19/31 (61.3)	12/31 (38.7)	5.4 ± 1.9	0.006b
Cirrhosis	31	15/31 (48.4)	16/31 (51.6)	6.4 ± 1.6	0.002b, 0.039c
Normal livers from colorectal cancer	7	0	7/7 (100)	3.5 ± 0.5	-

^avs well differentiated hepatocellular carcinomas;

^bvs normal livers;

^cvs chronic hepatitis.

Table 2 Univariate analysis of clinicopathological features related to postoperative recurrence

	No. of patients	Postoperative recurrence		P
		Yes	No
Age (yr)
≥ 60	45	23	22	0.733
< 60	19	9	10
Gender
Male	43	20	23	0.481
Female	21	12	9
Hepatitis B surface antigen
Positive	21	13	8	0.147
Negative	43	19	24
Hepatitis C virus antibody
Positive	32	12	20	0.151
Negative	32	20	12
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)
≥ 1.0	29	7	22	0.987
< 1.0	35	13	22
Alanine aminotransferase (IU/L)
≥ 50	26	11	15	0.635
< 50	38	21	17
Albumin (g/dL)
≥ 3.7	49	24	25	0.022
< 3.7	15	13	2
Platelets (104/μL)
≥ 10	46	21	25	0.465
< 10	18	11	7
Liver cirrhosis
Present	31	16	15	0.772
Absent	33	16	17
T mPGES-1
High	21	12	9	0.925
Low	43	25	18
NC mPGES-1
High	35	23	11	0.006
Low	29	9	21
Hepatectomy
Anatomic	31	21	10	0.149
Non-anatomic	33	16	17
Operative blood loss (mL)
≥ 500	15	12	3	0.091
< 500	49	25	24
α-fetoprotein (ng/mL)
≥ 100	15	10	5	0.347
< 100	49	27	22
DCP (mAU/mL)
≥ 400	22	15	7	0.081
< 400	42	19	23
Tumor diameter (cm)
≥ 5	16	12	3	0.018
< 5	48	20	29
Tumor number
Multiple	7	3	4	0.789
Solitary	57	29	28
Histological grade
Well	18	8	10	0.495
Moderate	40	21	19
Poor	6	3	3
Capsular formation
Present	49	25	24	0.320
Absent	5	7	8
Vascular invasion
Present	16	11	5	< 0.001
Absent	48	9	39

DCP: Des-γ-carboxy prothrombin; mPGES-1: Microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1; T mPGES-1: mPGES-1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma tumor tissue; NC mPGES-1: mPGES-1 expression in non-cancerous liver tissue.

Table 3 Multivariate analysis of the risk factors for postoperative recurrence

Variables	Hazard ratio	95% CI	P
Vascular invasion (present)	4.116	1.813-9.344	< 0.001
NC mPGES-1 expression (high)	4.074	1.760-9.428	0.001
Tumor diameter (≥ 5 cm)	2.060	0.860-4.935	0.105
Albumin (< 3.7 g/dL)	1.745	0.589-3.165	0.315

NC mPGES-1: Microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 expression in non-cancerous liver.