Table 6.
General correlation between expression scores for immunohistochemical markers and categories of histological grade for primary hepatocellular carcinoma
| Grade | Ki67 | K19 | p53 | ERK1 | BcatN | ERK2 | Vim | CKD1 | BcatM | mTOR | MET | EGFR | Group No. | |
| Ki67 | 0.43a | Group 1 | ||||||||||||
| K19 | 0.37b | 0.03 | ||||||||||||
| p53 | 0.36c | 0.29d | 0.08 | |||||||||||
| ERK1 | 0.34c | 0.39b | 0.37b | 0.17 | ||||||||||
| BcatN | 0.23 | 0.44a | 0.13 | 0.24 | 0.18 | |||||||||
| ERK2 | 0.19 | 0.63a | 0.22 | -0.10 | 0.36c | 0.24 | ||||||||
| Vim | 0.14 | 0.11 | 0.51a | 0.02 | 0.31c | 0.08 | 0.14 | |||||||
| CKD1 | 0.03 | 0.46a | -0.32c | -0.10 | 0.03 | 0.26d | 0.29d | -0.19 | Group 2 | |||||
| BcatM | -0.08 | 0.26d | -0.01 | -0.23 | 0.17 | -0.07 | 0.42a | 0.01 | 0.25d | |||||
| mTOR | -0.24d | -0.02 | -0.20 | -0.21 | 0.25d | -0.03 | 0.13 | -0.13 | 0.17 | 0.44a | ||||
| MET | -0.32c | 0.16 | -0.20 | -0.35c | -0.01 | 0.22 | 0.39b | -0.18 | 0.38b | 0.18 | 0.40b | |||
| EGFR | -0.34c | 0.00 | -0.14 | -0.13 | -0.04 | -0.24 | 0.22 | -0.07 | 0.13 | 0.20 | 0.11 | 0.23 | Group 3 | |
| Casp3 | -0.42a | -0.18 | -0.25d | -0.46a | -0.19 | -0.06 | 0.06 | -0.27d | 0.19 | 0.16 | 0.32b | 0.41a | 0.35c |
a
P < 0.0005,
b
P ≤ 0.001,
c
P < 0.01,
d
P < 0.05 by Spearman’s rho. Cases with positivity (group 1) and negativity (group 3) for immunohistochemical markers as associated with the histological grade and cell proliferation; Cases in group 2 showed intermediate features, between groups 1 and 3. BcatM: Membrane beta-catenin; BcatN: Nuclear beta-catenin; Casp3: Caspase 3; CKD1: Cyclin D1; EGFR: Epidermal growth factor receptor; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; mTOR: Mechanistic target of rapamycin; Vim: Vimentin.