[Immunohistochemical study of transferrin receptor expression in hepatocellular carcinoma]

By means of immunohistochemical technique ABC, using monoclonal anti-transferrin receptor (TFR) antibodies WuT9 and OKT9, TFR expression in 30 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and in 6 cases of organs and tissues of normal human bodies was studied. It was revealed that large amount of TFR were expressed in liver cancer cells, but not in the surrounding mesenchymal cells as demonstrated by intense immunostaining in cancer nests, and even not in the surrounding mesenchyma of those HCC patients with negative AFP in their serum. In normal human body, only small amount of TFR in limited sites was found without free antigen in blood stream. Thus, it followed that TFR as a structural antigen of HCC was expressed with higher relative specificity than AFP, and TFR may be considered a tumor marker and therapeutic target of HCC.