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  • Experimental Oncology
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Overexpression of hepatic prothymosin alpha, a novel marker for human hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Identification of gene products exclusively or abundantly expressed in cancer may yield novel tumour markers. We recently isolated a number of cDNA clones, including alpha-prothymosin, from rat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using a subtraction-enhanced display technique. Alpha-Prothymosin is involved in cell proliferation and is regulated by the oncogene c-myc in vitro. In the present study, we analysed alpha-prothymosin gene expression and its correlation with c-myc in patients with HCC, cirrhosis and adenoma and in normal controls. Hepatic alpha-prothymosin messenger RNA (mRNA) levels were two- to 9.2-fold higher in tumoral tissues than in adjacent non-tumoral tissues in 14 of 17 patients with HCC, regardless of coexisting cirrhosis and viral hepatitis. No marked difference in alpha-prothymosin mRNA levels was present in patients with adenoma and hepatic cirrhosis and in healthy controls. The c-myc mRNA amounts were two- to fivefold increased in 11 of 17 patients with HCC and correlated significantly with those of alpha-prothymosin (P < 0.001). In situ hybridization revealed that increased alpha-prothymosin mRNA was localized in the tumour nodules of the patients with HCC. These data suggest that overexpression of alpha-prothymosin in HCC patients, correlated with c-myc, is possibly involved in the tumorigenic process and may be a novel molecular marker for human HCC.

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Wu, C., Habib, N., Mitry, R. et al. Overexpression of hepatic prothymosin alpha, a novel marker for human hepatocellular carcinoma. Br J Cancer 76, 1199–1204 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1997.533

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1997.533

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