Objective To determine the expression of copper-transporting P-type Adenosine Triphosphatase (ATP7B) in hepatocelluar carcinoma tissue and explore its clinical and pathological significance.Methods Immunohistochemical method was used to determine the expression of ATP7B in 41 hepatocellular carcinoma tissue samples and 9 normal hepatic tissues.Then the relationship between ATP7B expression and clinic-pathologic features were analyzed.Results The expression of ATP7B in hepatocellular carcinoma tissue increased significantly than those in normal hepatic tissue (P<0.05) , the positive expression rates were 73.2% in carcimoma tissue and 33.3% in normal tissue, respectively.In addition, the increasing expression of ATP7B was significantly correlated with differentiation of malignancy (P<0.05) , the positive expression rates were 62.5% in mildly differentiated tissue, 66.7% in moderately differentiated tissue and 92.3% in poorly differentiated tissue.However, there was no significant correlation between ATP7B expression and TMN staging or vascular invasion (P>0.05) .Conclusion Increased expression of ATP7B was shown in hepatocellular carcinoma and related to tumor differentiation degree, which made it valuable for pathological diagnosis.
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