AIM: To evaluate the tissular expression of Androgen (A), Estrogen (E) and Progesterone (Pg) receptors, and Apolipoprotein D (ApoD), in liver tumors from resected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases in order to assess their possible relationship to prognosis.

METHODS: We performed an immunohistochemical study using tissue microarrays (containing more than 260 cancer specimens, from 31 HCC patients and controls) to determine the presence of specific antibodies against AR, ER, PgR and ApoD, correlating their findings with several clinico-pathological and biological variables. The staining results were categorized using a semi-quantitive score based on their intensity, and the percentage of immunostained cells was measured.

RESULTS: A total of 21 liver tumors (67.7%) were positive for AR; 16 (51.6%) for ER; 26 (83.9%) for PgR and 12 (38.7%) stained for ApoD. We have found a wide variability in the immunostaining score values for each protein, with a median (range) of 11.5 (11.5-229.5) for AR; 11.1 (8.5-65) for ER; 14.2 (4-61) for PgR; and 37.7 (13.8-81.1) for ApoD. A history of heavy ethanol consumption, correlated positively with AR and PgR and negatively with ER status. HCV chronic infection also correlated positively with AR and PgR status. However, the presence of ApoD immunostaining did not correlate with any of these variables. Tumors with a positive immuno-staining for PgR showed a better prognosis.

CONCLUSION: Our results indicate a moderate clinical value of the steroid receptor status in HCC, emphasizing the need to perform further studies in order to evaluate the possible role of new hormonal-based therapies.