Comparison of the expression of beta-catenin in hepatocellular carcinoma in areas with high and low levels of exposure to aflatoxin B1

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Previous studies showed that the frequency of beta-catenin mutation was different in mice when induced by different chemicals. The aim of this study is to compare the expression of beta-catenin and p53 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from areas with exposure to high and low levels of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). METHODS: Thirty-five and twenty HCC samples from Guangxi and Malaysia, respectively, were studied. The expression of beta-catenin and p53 was determined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The overexpression of beta-catenin was detected in 65.7% of HCC tissues and 37.1% in adjacent liver tissues samples from Guangxi, China. Similarly, overexpression of beta-catenin was also detected in 60.0% of HCC tissues and in 35.0% of adjacent liver tissues samples from Malaysia. The overexpression of p53 was detected in 42.9% of HCC specimens from Guangxi and in 25.0% of HCC specimens from Malaysia. There was a relationship between the expression of beta-catenin and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the adjacent liver tissues in Guangxi, and between the expression of beta-catenin and p53 in HCC tissues in Malaysia. CONCLUSIONS: The differences in the exposure to AFB1 did not affect the overexpression of beta-catenin in the development of HBV-associated HCC.