Sinusoidal endothelial cell progenitor cells promote tumor progression in the patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Abstract Objective: Since sinusoidal endothelial cell progenitor cells (SEPCs) play great roles in liver regeneration, it is necessary to elucidate that whether these SEPCs participate in tumor progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: A total of 45 patients with primary HCC, who received liver resection, were included in this study. The liver tumors were removed from patients and partial tissues were prepared to identify SEPCs by double staining of CD133/CD45 and CD133/CD31 at the same location. Blood samples were correspondingly collected to examine liver function parameters and tumor markers. The demographics and clinic-pathological characteristics of the patients were all collected for correlation analysis with SEPCs. Results: SEPCs were observed within abundant of blood vessels in HCC nodules of all the 45 patients, but no SEPCs were detected in the tumor-adjacent tissues. The number of SEPCs was correlated with the expression levels of HCC tumor markers α-fetoprotein (AFP) and CA199. There was a positive correlation between the expressions of SEPCs markers and the diameters of HCC tumors in differently differentiated specimens (P<0.01). The expressions levels of SEPCs markers in poorly differentiated HCC patients were significantly higher than those in the moderately and highly differentiated HCC patients (P<0.05). Conclusions: SEPCs are in close connection with HCC progression, and they may potentially act as prognosis and metastasis predicting index and even therapeutic candidates of HCC.