Golgi-protein 73 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma: diagnostic utility and association with tumor differentiation

Objective To characterize tissue GP73 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to evaluate its associations with clinicopathological features, diagnostic performance, and prognosis. Methods Immunohistochemistry was performed on paraffin-embedded liver tissues from 32 normal, 67 cirrhotic, and 198 HCC specimens. Associations were assessed using univariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression; diagnostic accuracy was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic analysis, and prognostic significance by Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. Results The proportions of tissues with high GP73 expression in normal, cirrhotic, and HCC tissues were 15.6% (5/32), 35.8% (24/67), and 68.7% (136/198), respectively ( P < 0.001). GP73 discriminated HCC from normal liver and cirrhosis with AUCs of 0.765 and 0.664, respectively, and also showed diagnostic utility in small HCC and AFP-negative HCC. High GP73 expression was significantly more frequent in moderately to poorly differentiated HCC (74.2%, 112/151) than in well-differentiated HCC (51.1%, 24/47) ( P = 0.003). Multivariate logistic regression identified moderate to poor differentiation as an independent predictor of high GP73 expression (odds ratio [OR] = 2.942; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.348–6.418; P = 0.007). During follow-up, GP73 expression was not significantly associated with recurrence-free or overall survival. Conclusions GP73 is upregulated in HCC tissues, exhibits diagnostic value for HCC, and is associated with tumor differentiation but not with prognosis. Clinical trial number Not applicable.