Biological significance of the expression of B-myb in hepatocellular carcinoma and the correlation with cyclin D1

Objective: To study the expression of the B-myb and cyclin D1 in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue and explore their correlation with initiation and progression of HCC. Methods: The expressions of B-myb and cyclin D1 in 60 cases of HCC tissue and the corresponding pericancerous liver tissue were detected by immunohistochemical method. Results: The positive rates of B-myb and cyclin D1 in the HCC tissue were higher than those in the pericancerous liver tissue (56.67% vs 36.67% and 50% vs 31.67%, P < 0.05) respectively. The expression of B-myb in the HCC tissue significantly correlated with the clinical stage, the extrahepatic metastasis, post-operative recurrence, and the number of tumor nodes but not correlated with the tumor thrombus in portal vein, the tumor diameter, the serum level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), and tumor differentiation. The expression of cyclin D1 in the HCC tissue was significantly associated with the clinical stage, the tumor thrombus in portal vein, extrahepatic metastasis, post-operative recurrence, the number of tumor nodes, and the differentiation of tumor but not associated with the tumor diameter and the serum level of AFP. The expression of B-myb had positive correlation with expression of cyclin D1 in HCC tissues. Conclusion: The overexpressions of B-myb and cyclin D1 in HCC tissue may contribute to the proliferation of hepatoma cells, and have close correlation with the initiation and progression of HCC.