Hepatitis C virus infection and gene expression of hepatocellular carcinoma in Egyptian patients

Abstract

Introduction: Gene expression profiling of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
is promising for refining the diagnosis and prognosis as well as identifying
potential therapeutic targets.
Aim of the Study: Our study aimed to study the gene expression in 40 HCC patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) using RT-PCR technique on surgical liver sample. Gene expression changes in HCV-positive group were compared with gene expression in HCV-negative group. Four genes were included in this study, AFP gene, CD10 gene, HGF gene and GRB2 gene. The expression of the four genes were slightly higher in HCV positive group than in HCV negative group, however, the difference between the two groups was
non-significant. HGF gene was expressed in only 20% of HCC patients and
GRB2 gene was expressed in 95% of HCC patients. AFP gene and CD10 gene were expressed in all patients.
Conclusion: AFP gene, CD10 gene and GRB2 gene play an important role as diagnostic markers of HCC.

Key Words: Hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatitis C virus, AFP gene, CD10 gene, HGF gene and GRB2 gene.