J. Zhou et al., The potential of plasma thrombomodulin as a biomarker of portal vein tumorthrombus in hepatocellular carcinoma, J CANC RES, 127(9), 2001, pp. 559-564
Purpose: To study the relationship between thrombomodulin (TM) plasma level
s and the formation of portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) in patients with h
epatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: Pre- and postoperative plasma TM le
vels of 45 patients with HCC and six patients with benign liver-occupying l
esion were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the e
xpression of TM in human HCC tissues was determined by immunohistochemistry
assay. Results: The preoperative plasma TM level of patients with HCC (10.
2 +/- 5.7 ng/ml) was significantly higher than that of those patients with
benign liver-occupying lesion (6.1 +/- 2.2 ng/ml) and that of normal contro
ls (5.7 +/- 1.0 ng/ml), respectively (P < 0.05). The postoperative TM level
of 40 patients with HCC whose tumors had been removed decreased significan
tly than the preoperative TM level (10.8 +/- 5.3 ng/ml versus 7.6 +/- 4.2 n
g/ ml, P < 0.05), whereas there was no significant difference between the p
reoperative and postoperative TM level of six patients with benign liver-oc
cupying lesion (6.1 +/- 2.2 ng/ml versus 5.9 +/- 1.8 ng/ml, P > 0.05). The
preoperative plasma TM level of patients with single HCC (11.5 +/- 5.9 ng/m
l) or no PVTT (11.4 +/- 5.6 ng/ml) was significantly higher than that of th
ose patients with multiple HCC (8.1 +/- 4.6 ng/ml) or PVTT (6.9 +/- 4.5 ng/
ml), respectively (P < 0.05). The preoperative plasma TM level of the pati
ents with HCC tissue that stained positive for TM was significantly higher
than those with tissue that stained negative for TM (12.2 +/- 6.5 ng/ ml ve
rsus 8.7 +/- 4.6 ng/ml, P < 0.05). The postoperative plasma TM level showed
no difference between the patients with HCC tissue stained positive and ne
gative for TM (8.3 +/- 4.1 ng/ml versus 7.6 +/- 4.4 ng/ml, P > 0.05). There
was also no significant difference between the plasma TM level and other c
linicopathological futures. Conclusions: Plasma TM increases in patients wi
th HCC and can be a biomarker of the formation of PVTT.