The results of their study, "pRb2/p130, VEGF, p27(KIP1) and PCNA expression in hepatocellular carcinoma: their clinical significance," will be published in the May 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research (http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org).
In the study, which was led by Pier Paolo Claudio, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of biotechnology at the Sbarro Institute at Temple, the researchers examined 21 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma in order to analyze potential molecular biomarkers that may be useful as prognostic indicators for the cancer, which is one of the most prevalent malignancies worldwide and the third-largest cause of cancer deaths. The researchers discovered an inverse correlation between the expression of Rb2 and VEGF in the tumors.
"We examined a panel of 21 tumors and found some of them had a little Rb2 expression and some of them had no Rb2 expression," says Claudio, the study's lead author. "And all of this correlated with an opposite level of VEGF in each sample."
According to Claudio, the lower the Rb2 expression and the higher the VEGF expression, the more aggressive the liver cancer. He adds that the Temple researchers' findings were the same, regardless of whether the tumor was in an early or an advanced stage.
"Rb2 and VEGF expression are independent from the tumor's stage of development, suggesting these two proteins play a potential role as prognostic markers because they are going to indicate the a
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Contact: Preston M. Moretz
pmoretz@temple.edu
215-204-7476
Temple University
15-May-2004