Chemokine ligand 20 enhances progression of hepatocellular carcinoma via epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Table 1 Relationship between chemokine ligand 20 expression and clinicopathologic features

Clinicopathologic features	Number of patients	CCL20 expression		P value
		Low (n = 32)	High (n = 30)
Age (yr)
≤ 57	35	19	16	0.632
> 57	27	13	14
Gender
Male	47	26	21	0.301
Female	15	6	9
Etiology				0.167
HBV infection	46	26	20
HCV infection	11	2	9
Alcohol	5	4	1
Background liver pathology				0.122
Normal liver	3	2	1
Chronic hepatitis	20	11	9
Liver cirrhosis	39	19	20
AFP (ng/mL)
≤ 197	33	21	12	0.043
> 197	29	11	18
ALT (U/L)
≤ 66	28	17	11	0.193
> 66	34	15	19
Child-Pugh
A	44	21	23	0.338
B	18	11	7
Tumor size (cm)
≤ 5	41	29	12	0.000
> 5	21	3	18
Tumor number
Single	43	27	16	0.008
Multiple	19	5	14
Vascular invasion
No	51	30	21	0.014
Yes	11	2	9
Tumor encapsulation
Yes	24	14	10	0.400
No	38	18	20
Tumor differentiation
I + II	45	28	17	0.007
III + IV	17	4	13
TNM stage
I	40	22	18	0.472
II + III	22	10	12

AFP: Alpha fetoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; CCL20: Chemokine ligand 20; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; OS: Overall survival; RFS: Recurrence-free survival; TNM: Tumor-node-metastasis.

Table 2 Univariate analyses for factors associated with recurrence and survivals

Factor	Recurrence		P value	RFS (%)	P value	OS (%)	P value
	Yes	No
Age (yr)
≤ 57	19	16	0.184	53.2	0.211	66.7	0.135
> 57	18	9		38.1		50.6
Gender
Male	26	21	0.469	58.9	0.192	55.4	0.633
Female	9	6		42.3		64.8
Etiology			0.235		0.659		0.835
HBV infection	27	19		45.7		56.3
HCV infection	7	4		39.2		54.5
Alcohol	2	3		58.4		61.7
Background liver pathology			0.953		0.784		0.947
Normal liver	2	1		55.3		63.5
Chronic hepatitis	13	7		45.6		57.4
Liver cirrhosis	22	17		40.9		50.2
AFP (ng/mL)
≤ 197	15	18	0.084	58.3	0.038	65.5	0.074
> 197	19	10		29.6		42.8
ALT (U/L)
≤ 66	15	13	0.371	45.6	0.881	55.3	0.942
> 66	19	15		41.5		52.9
Child-Pugh
A	24	20	0.774	40.2	0.695	54.1	0.133
B	11	7		38.8		44.3
Tumor size (cm)
≤ 5	21	20	0.417	52.9	0.024	68.3	0.014
> 5	14	7		31.7		44.8
Tumor number
Single	25	18	0.217	47.1	0.052	58.3	0.233
Multiple	13	6		30.2		46.5
Vascular invasion
No	31	20	0.042	54.6	0.019	62.8	0.008
Yes	8	3		31.8		40.9
Tumor encapsulation
Yes	14	10	0.649	47.6	0.443	65.3	0.032
No	23	15		38.2		43.1
Tumor differentiation
I + II	21	24	0.241	45.3	0.695	59.6	0.047
III + IV	11	6		41.8		40.1
TNM stage
I	19	21	< 0.001	56.8	< 0.001	66.4	< 0.001
II + III	18	4		20.4		35.7
CCL20
Low	13	19	< 0.001	60.9	< 0.001	70.1	< 0.001
High	27	3		21.4		30.6

AFP: Alpha fetoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; CCL20: Chemokine ligand 20; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; OS: Overall survival; RFS: Recurrence-free survival; TNM: Tumor-node-metastasis.

Table 3 Correlation of chemokine ligand 20 expression with different markers

	E-cadherin		Vimentin		p-AKT		β-catenin
	Positive	Negative	Positive	Negative	Positive	Negative	Positive	Negative
CCL20	4	26	27	3	23	7	29	1
χ2	13.285		14.754		9.589		17.796
P value	< 0.001		< 0.001		< 0.001		< 0.001

CCL20: Chemokine ligand 20; p-AKT: phosphorylated AKT.