EpCAM-positive hepatocellular carcinoma cells are tumor-initiating cells with stem/progenitor cell features.

ABSTRACT:

Background & aims

Cancer progression/metastases and embryonic development share many properties including cellular plasticity, dynamic cell motility, and integral interaction with the microenvironment. We hypothesized that the heterogeneous nature of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), in part, may be owing to the presence of hepatic cancer cells with stem/progenitor features.

Methods

Gene expression profiling and immunohistochemistry analyses were used to analyze 235 tumor specimens derived from 2 recently identified HCC subtypes (EpCAM(+) alpha-fetoprotein [AFP(+)] HCC and EpCAM(-) AFP(-) HCC). These subtypes differed in their expression of AFP, a molecule produced in the developing embryo, and EpCAM, a cell surface hepatic stem cell marker. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting

SUBMITTER: Yamashita T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2828822 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature