Prognostic significance of c-Met, β-catenin and FAK in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma following surgery

The present study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of specific molecular markers in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who had received surgery. Immunohistochemical analysis was used to measure the expression of hepatocyte growth factor receptor (c-Met), beta-catenin and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in patients with HCC. c-Met expression was identified to be high in patients with larger tumors, higher alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, higher Edmondson grades, portal vein invasion and higher tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stages. FAK expression was high in patients with portal vein invasion, higher Edmondson grades and higher TNM stages. beta-catenin expression was high in patients with larger tumors, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, portal vein invasion, higher Edmondson grades and higher TNM stages. Following multivariate analysis, FAK (P=0.002) and beta-catenin (P=0.006) expression levels were demonstrated to be significantly associated with Edmondson grade. Additionally, the tumor size (P=0.009) and HBV infection status (P=0.002) were revealed to be associated with beta-catenin expression. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis demonstrated that patients with HCC with higher FAK expression, higher beta-catenin expression, portal vein invasion, higher Edmondson grades, higher TNM stages, younger ages and higher AFP levels had significantly poorer prognoses. Cox's regression analysis revealed that the survival period was correlated with the Edmondson grade, age, AFP level, and FAK and beta-catenin expression. Univariate analysis of c-Met, beta-catenin and FAK identified a significant correlation between FAK and beta-catenin (P=0.015). Correlation analysis revealed no significant correlation between the three molecular markers, but beta-catenin and c-Met were markedly correlated (P=0.052). No significant correlation between FAK, c-Met or beta-catenin expression was identified. FAK and beta-catenin expression demonstrated a correlation with a range of clinicopathological factors, and high FAK and beta-catenin expression levels were identified to be correlated with a poor survival rate of patients with HCC. Thus, patients with higher FAK and beta-catenin expression may require more aggressive therapy. The results of the present study suggest that FAK and beta-catenin expression possess more prognostic value than c-Met expression in patients with HCC.