Association of PTEN expression with liver function and inflammatory changes in patients with liver cancer after chemotherapy

This study investigated the effects of phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN) expression on liver function classification, serum tumor markers and liver function of patients with liver cancer. A total of 63 patients with primary liver cancer treated in Xiangya Hospital (Changsha, China) were retrospectively analyzed. The difference in the PTEN expression levels in normal liver cells and liver cancer cells was compared via immunohistochemistry. According to the expression level of PTEN in the patient's pathological report, patients were divided into PTEN-positive and PTEN-negative groups. The expression level of each tumor marker in serum of patients was observed, and the association of PTEN expression level with the serum tumor markers was analyzed. Moreover, the changes in liver function and inflammatory factors before and after chemotherapy were compared. Finally, the relationship between the PTEN expression level and Child-Pugh grading of the liver function was detected. Compared with that in normal liver cells, the positive expression rate of PTEN protein in liver cancer cells was significantly decreased (P<0.05). No significant difference was found in the expression levels of serum tumor markers, except α-fetoprotein (AFP) in liver cancer patients between PTEN-positive and PTEN-negative group, indicating that PTEN expression has no significant effects on serum tumor markers. The levels of albumin (ALB), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and prothrombin activity (PTA) were decreased significantly after chemotherapy compared with those before chemotherapy (P<0.05). Besides, the levels of inflammatory factors were remarkably reduced after chemotherapy. PTEN expression was negatively associated with liver function grading, and the higher the PTEN expression, the lower the liver function grading was. The low expression of PTEN has a certain association with the occurrence and grading of liver cancer. PTEN gene has guiding significance in predicting the occurrence, development and prognosis of liver cancer.