NOTE Surgery Gene Expression of Growth Factors and Growth Factor Receptors for Potential Targeted Therapy of Canine Hepatocellular Carcinoma

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the gene expression of growth factors and growth factor receptors of primary hepatic masses, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and nodular hyperplasia (NH), in dogs. Quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was performed to measure the expression of 18 genes in 18 HCCs, 10 NHs, 11 surrounding non-cancerous liver tissues and 4 healthy control liver tissues. Platelet-derived growth factor-B (PDGF-B), transforming growth factor-α, epidermal growth factor receptor, epidermal growth factor and hepatocyte growth factor were found to be differentially expressed in HCC compared with NH and the surrounding non-cancerous and healthy control liver tissues. PDGF-B is suggested to have the potential to become a valuable ancillary target for the treatment of canine HCC. KEY WORDS: canine, hepatic nodular hyperplasia, hepatocellular carcinoma, platelet-derived growth factor-B, targeted therapy. doi: 10.1292/jvms.13-0378; J. Vet. Med. Sci. 76(2): 301–306, 2014 Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary hepatic tumor in dogs. Canine HCC arises from the uncontrolled proliferation of hepatocytes. Viral infections have been associated with HCC in humans [3], but no causal link with canine HCC has yet been established. In humans, HCC pathogenesis is a multistep process involving sequen