Abstract
PURPOSE: To investigate the genomic instability and their association with clinicopathological characteristics in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: DNA isolated from tumors and corresponding non-cancerous liver tissues of 56 patients with HCC was amplified with ten random 10-mer arbitrary primers by the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method. RESULTS: All the cases of HCC were demonstrated to have genomic instability by at least one primer. The incidence of genomic instability ranged from 20 to 70% in each case, and 17.9-50% in each primer. Serum AFP concentration, HBV infection, tumor size, histological grade, tumor capsule invasion, as well as intrahepatic metastasis were associated with the genomic instability on certain primers. CONCLUSIONS: Genomic instability is a frequent event in HCC. The RAPD is an effective method for the identification and analysis of genomic instability in HCC, and it may provide new information for further evaluating the molecular mechanism of hepatocarcinogenesis.