Table 2 CAFs are potential pathological indicators for predicting HCC prognosis
Selection criteria of HCC cases | Source/number/staining of HCC specimens | Quantification of immunohistochemistry | Mean DFS/OS | HCC prognosis | Predictive value | Reference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Methods | Cut-off value | High-density group | Low-density group | ||||||
HCC cases underwent curative radical surgery without neo-adjuvant radiotherapy or chemotherapy | Clinical cases/101 HCC patients/α-SMA | Stromal thickness was measured using the CRi Nuance multispectral imaging system | Mean value of stromal thickness: 238.6 μm | DFS: 3 months | DFS: 12 months | Inverse correlation with DFS | Independent prognostic factor for DFS | Fang et al. [25] | |
No modality other than LDLT available to treat patients with HCC and end-stage liver disease; no extrahepatic metastasis or macrovascular invasion such as portal vein or hepatic vein infiltration | Clinical cases/22 HCC patients/α-SMA | The percentage of α-SMA expression in the stromal area was calculated | α-SMA expression in stromal area: < 1%, < 10%, > 10% | > 10% | < 10% | > 1% | Inverse correlation with DFS and OS | Independent prognostic factor for DFS | Takamura et al. [23] |
– | – | – | |||||||
HCC without a history of preoperative treatment | Clinical cases/314 HCC patients/FAP | Scoring was performed according to staining intensity and the percentage of positive cells | Score (positive: 2, moderate staining in ≥5%, and 3, strong staining in ≥ 5% cells; negative: 0, staining in < 5% cells, and 1, weak staining in ≥5%) | – | – | No association with HCC prognosis | – | Kim et al. [24] | |