Dynamics of endothelial progenitor cells in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Claudia Campani, Manuela Capone, Francesco Liotta, Umberto Arena, Valentina Adotti, Chiara Di Bonaventura, Sami Aburas, Stefano Colagrande, Linda Calistri, Francesco Annunziato, Fabio Marra

Journal: Digestive and liver disease : official journal of the Italian Society of Gastroenterology and the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver 2022;54(7):911-917

PMID: 34876355

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) predict tumor vascularization and disease progression, but limited information is available on their dynamics in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing systemic treatment.

METHODS

We prospectively analyzed different populations of EPC in 16 patients with advanced HCC receiving sorafenib. Patients were studied before therapy (T0, n = 16) and after two (T2, n = 12) and eight weeks (T8, n = 8), using high-performance flow-cytometry. The tumor response at T8 was categorized as progressive disease (PD) or clinical benefit (CB, all other responses).

RESULTS

At T0, higher levels of CD34CD133KDR and CD34KDR were observed in patients with alpha-fetoprotein ≥400 ng/ml or non-viral liver disease, whereas CD34CD133KDR cells were virtually absent in patients with vascular invasion. CD34KDR and CD34CD133KDR were directly correlated with platelet count. Frequencies of all populations of EPC declined in patients receiving sorafenib. Levels of CD34CD133 were higher at T0 in patients with CB compared to patients with PD. In patients belonging to the CB group CD34KDR cells at T0 were directly correlated to platelet count.

CONCLUSION

In patients with advanced HCC, EPC are directly correlated with platelet count, suggesting a common activation of selected bone marrow pathways. Levels of a CD34KDR are higher at baseline in patients responding to sorafenib.

Address: Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50134, Florence, Italy.; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Clinical and Experimental, University of Florence, 50134, Florence, Italy.; Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50134, Florence, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.dld.2021.11.010

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MeSH Terms: Antigens, CD34, Biomarkers, Carcinoma, Hepatocellular, Endothelial Progenitor Cells, Flow Cytometry, Humans, Liver Neoplasms, Sorafenib