: Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are main components of tumor microenvirnoment. They act an essential role in tumor progression, invasion and unresponsiveness to chemotherapy.
Aim: This work aims to study the relation of CAFs with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) developement and progression .
Material and Methods: This is an uncontrolled retrospective study carried upon 30 cases of HCC. Cases were collected from archives of Pathology Department and Early Cancer Detection Unit (ECDU), Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, and from International Medical Center during the years 2010-2015. Podoplanin (D2-40), alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and CD31 immunohistochemichal staining were performed and evaluated for each case.
Results: Both D2-40 and α-SMA showed different distributions and levels of expression. D2-40 positivity was localized to the peri-tumoral area, while α-SMA was detected in both intra- and peritumoral areas. Expression of both markers was not statistically related to each other (p>0.05). D2-40 was positive in 73.3% of casesand α-SMA showed high expressionin 60% of cases.Both positive D2-40 and high α-SMA showed positive relations to tumor grade (p˂0.01 for both markers), associated cirrhosis (p˂0.05 for both markers), lymphatic (p˂0.05 for both markers) and vascular invasion ( p˂0.05 and p˂0.01 respectively). Also positive relations were reported between positivity of D2-40 and lymph node metastases (p˂0.05). Neoangiogenesis was estimated by positivity to CD31 and Microvessel density (MVD) was calculated. Lymphatic vessel density(LVD) was also estimated by using positivity to D2-40. Both mean MVD and meanLVD were significantly increased in relation to positive D2-40 expression (p ˂0.01 and p ˂0.05 respectively). Also, the higher α-SMA expression, the higher the means of both MVD and LVD. Theses also were highly statistically significant relations (p ˂0.01 for both).
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