Prognostic significance of hepatocyte growth factor and c-MET expression in patients with diffuse large B-cell
R Kawano1, K Ohshima, K Karube
1Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan. rrriiikkkoookawa@yahoo.co.jp
Abstract:
The expression and prognostic significance of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor c-MET (MET proto-oncogene) was analysed in 96 cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Tissue sections were immunohistochemically stained for HGF and c-Met. The prognosis of HGF-positive and c-Met-positive cases was significantly worse than negative cases (HGF: P = 0.0036; c-Met: P = 0.0002). In addition, in the low-risk international prognostic index group, HGF-negative and c-Met-negative cases had a significantly better prognosis than positive cases (HGF: P = 0.0009; c-Met: P < 0.0001). Our results suggest that HGF/c-MET is a useful clinical marker of prognosis for patients with DLBCL.

