In Myanmar, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is commonly seen in young adult and associated with poor prognosis, while the molecular mechanisms that characterize HCC in Myanmar are unknown. As co-activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and c-Myc (Myc) are reported to associate with malignancy of HCC, we immunohistochemically investigated the expression of Pygo2 and Bcl9, the co-activators of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling, Myc and PCNA in 60 cases of Myanmar HCC. Pygo2 expression was confirmed by in situ hybridization. The signal intensity was measured by image analyzer and then statistically analyzed. As a result, the expression of Pygo2 was significantly higher in HCC compared to normal liver tissue and the nuclear signal was the most intense in poorly differentiated HCC. Cytoplasmic Bcl9 was expressed in the normal liver tissue but decreased in HCC with the progression of histopathological grade. Myc was significantly higher in poorly differentiated HCC, whereas PCNA labeling index increased with the progression of histopathological grade. Nuclear Pygo2 showed strong correlation with nuclear Myc (P < 0.01) and PCNA (P < 0.001), and inversely correlated with cytoplasmic Bcl9 (P < 0.01). Our results suggested Wnt/β-catenin and Myc signaling is commonly activated in Myanmar HCC and that the correlative upregulation of nuclear Pygo2 and Myc characterizes the malignant features of HCC in Myanmar.

在缅甸，肝细胞癌 (HCC) 常见于年轻人，预后较差，而缅甸 HCC 的分子机制尚不清楚。据报道，Wnt/β-catenin 信号传导和 c-Myc (Myc) 的共激活与 HCC 的恶性肿瘤相关，我们免疫组织化学研究了 Pygo2 和 Bcl9（Wnt/β-catenin 信号传导的共激活因子）的表达， Myc 和 PCNA 在 60 例缅甸 HCC 中的应用。Pygo2 表达通过原位确认杂交。通过图像分析仪测量信号强度，然后进行统计分析。结果，与正常肝组织相比，HCC中Pygo2的表达显着更高，并且核信号在低分化HCC中最强。细胞质 Bcl9 在正常肝组织中表达，但在 HCC 中随着组织病理学分级的进展而减少。Myc 在低分化 HCC 中显着升高，而 PCNA 标记指数随着组织病理学分级的进展而增加。核 Pygo2 与核 Myc ( P < 0.01) 和 PCNA ( P < 0.001) 呈强相关性，与细胞质 Bcl9 ( P< 0.01)。我们的结果表明 Wnt/β-catenin 和 Myc 信号通常在缅甸 HCC 中被激活，并且核 Pygo2 和 Myc 的相关上调表征了缅甸 HCC 的恶性特征。