IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL EXPRESSION OF GLYPICAN-3 IN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA

Glypican-3 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of immunohistochemically expression of Glypican-3 in hepatocellular carcinoma on liver biopsies.
Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Histopathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Rawalpindi, from Jun 2015 to Jun 2016.
Material and Methods: A total of 55 liver biopsies from the patients of hepatocellular carcinoma were included in the study. Age, gender, tumor grade and immunohistochemically expression of glypican-3 were noted. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 21. Mean and SD were calculated for numerical variables such as age. Percentages and frequencies were calculated for gender, tumor grade and immunohistochemically expression of glypican-3. The data collected for study were statistically analyzed using chi-square test.
Results: Out of 55 patients of hepatocellular carcinoma, 44 (80%) were males and 11 (20%) were females. The age of the patients was between 41 and 80 years with an average age of 59.7 years and standard deviation of ± 8.8. Out of 55 cases, 32 cases (58.2%) were well differentiated, 18 cases (32.7%) were moderately differentiated and 5 cases (9.1%) were poorly differentiated. Forty-eight cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (87.3%) showed positivity for glypican-3 while 7 cases (12.7%) were negative. A significant statistical association was not seen among age, gender, tumor grade and glypican-3 expression, p-value being >0.05.
Conclusion: The high expression of glypican-3 in hepatocellular carcinoma suggests its diagnostic utility and also its value in distinguishing hepatocellular carcinoma from other hepatic lesions. As antiglypican-3 therapy is currently under clinical evaluation, it might be useful as a therapeutic target in glypican-3 positive hepatocellular carcinoma cases.