Conclusion
In HCC, the Hh and PI3K-AKT signaling pathways are both abnormally activated, and Shh, Gli1, FAK, p-FAK and p-AKT can serve as indicators to predict the prognosis of liver cancer.
Methods
Immunohistochemistry was used to measure Shh, Gli1, FAK, p-FAK, and p-AKT expressions in 50 cases of HCC and paracancerous tissues. The Shh, Gli1, and FAK mRNA levels were determined by qRT-PCR in 20 HCCs. The correlations between the expressions of these target genes and the clinicopathological factors were analyzed in HCC.
Objective
To investigate the expression and clinical significance of Shh, Gli1, FAK, p-FAK and p-AKT in HCC.
Results
The immunohistochemical results showed that the expressions of Shh, Gli1, FAK, p-FAK, and p-AKT in 50 HCC tissues were significantly higher than those of the paracancerous tissues (P < 0.05). Shh and p-FAK expressions were associated with portal vein invasion, capsular integrity, and distant metastasis (P < 0.05). Gli1, FAK, and p-AKT expressions were closely related to tumor diameter, tumor differentiation, portal vein invasion, capsular integrity, TNM stage and distant metastasis (P < 0.05). Shh was related to Gli1 and p-FAK (r = 0.67, 0.30; P = 0.00, 0.03), Gli1 was positively related to p-FAK and p-AKT (r = 0.52, 0.49; P = 0.00, 0.00), and there was a positive correlation between p-FAK and p-AKT (r = 0.36, P = 0.00). Furthermore, the Shh, Gli1, and FAK mRNA levels in the HCC tissues were significantly higher than those in the paracancerous tissues (P < 0.0001), and the high TNM stages (III and IV) or distant metastasis were significantly higher than those in the low TNM stages (I and II) (P < 0.05) or without distant metastasis (P < 0.05).