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©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Prostate-specific membrane antigen expression in hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, and liver cirrhosis
Li-Xing Chen, Si-Juan Zou, Dan Li, Jian-Yuan Zhou, Zhao-Ting Cheng, Jun Zhao, Yuan-Li Zhu, Dong Kuang, Xiao-Hua Zhu
Li-Xing Chen, Si-Juan Zou, Dan Li, Jian-Yuan Zhou, Zhao-Ting Cheng, Jun Zhao, Xiao-Hua Zhu, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China
Jun Zhao, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China
Yuan-Li Zhu, Dong Kuang, Department of Pathology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Chen LX and Zhu XH conceived and designed the study; Zou SJ, Li D, Zhou JY, and Cheng ZT collected the clinical data; Zhu YL and Kuang D contributed to the analysis; Chen LX drafted the manuscript; Zhu XH, Zou SJ, Li D, Kuang D, and Zhu YL made the comments; Zhu XH critically reviewed and revised the manuscript; Zhao J polished the manuscript; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81873903, No. 81671718, No. 91959119 and No. 81271600; Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province in China, No. 2016CFB687.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 2019-S951.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no financial relationships to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Hua Zhu, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1095 Jiefang Ave, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China. evazhu@vip.sina.com
Received: July 22, 2020
Peer-review started: July 22, 2020
First decision: September 30, 2020
Revised: October 9, 2020
Accepted: November 29, 2020
Article in press: November 29, 2020
Published online: December 28, 2020
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a transmembrane glycoprotein expressed in the neovasculature of various nonprostate malignancies.
Research motivation
PSMA expression in the tumor-associated neovasculature of nonprostate malignancies including liver cancer has been reported, but conclusive evidence of PSMA expression based on the pathological type of liver cancers remains limited.
Research objectives
This retrospective study was performed to study the expression of PSMA in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), and liver cirrhosis.
Research methods
Immunohistochemistry was used to detect PSMA expression in 446 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded liver biopsy specimens (213 HCC, 203 CCA, and 30 liver cirrhosis).
Research results
PSMA was expressed primarily in the neovascular endothelium associated with tumors. The positive rate of PSMA staining in HCC was significantly higher than that in CCA.
Research conclusions
Neovascular PSMA may be used as a promising marker to differentiate HCC from liver cirrhosis and a prognostic marker for antitumor angiogenesis for HCC.
Research perspectives
Vascular PSMA may be used as a prognostic marker for anti-tumor angiogenesis therapy for HCC.
