Glypican‐3 and MAGE‐1 are predictors of tumor invasiveness of hepatocellular carcinoma

ABSTRACT Background and aim: Large scale studies on protein targeting for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are limited and the clinical implications of targeted proteins have not been fully investigated. We studied the expression of three candidate antigens, glypican‐3(GPC3), human melanoma antigen‐1(MAGE‐1) and alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) in HCC on large number samples. Methods: We performed immunohistochemistry using tissue microarray on 420 HCC samples and 120 non‐tumorous hepatic tissues. Results: GPC3 staining was observed in 250 (62.3%) of 401 HCC cases, while none of the control group had positive staining. The expression of MAGE‐1 was 9.75%, 7.1% and 18.8% with the three different antibodies. None of the control group was stained with MAGE‐1, with two antibodies. Control cases were more frequently stained than HCC with two different AFP antibodies. Microscopic vascular invasion, and T‐stage correlated with the expression of GPC3. Vascular and other organ invasion correlated with MAGE‐1 expression. GPC‐3 + HCC was associated with a short survival rate. Conclusions: GPC3 and MAGE‐1 are useful biomarkers indicating tumor aggressiveness as well as potent target proteins for HCC immunotherapy. AFP staining had a high false positivity and further evaluation is required.