Relationship of polyamine metabolism to degree of malignancy of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Kubo,S; Tamori,A; Nishiguchi,S; Omura,T; Kinoshita,H; Hirohashi,K; Kuroki,T; Otani,S

doi:10.3892/or.5.6.1385

Relationship of polyamine metabolism to degree of malignancy of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Authors:
- S Kubo
- A Tamori
- S Nishiguchi
- T Omura
- H Kinoshita
- K Hirohashi
- T Kuroki
- S Otani
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Affiliations: Second Department of Surgery, Osaka City University Medical School, Abeno-ku, Osaka 545-8586, Japan.
Published online on: November 1, 1998 https://doi.org/10.3892/or.5.6.1385
Pages: 1385-1393

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Abstract

We investigated polyamine metabolism in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with respect to tumor volume doubling time, degree of differentiation, and prevalence of portal invasion and intrahepatic metastasis. Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and the spermidine/spermine ratio were correlated with tumor volume doubling time. ODC activity was higher in moderately and poorly differentiated HCC than in well-differentiated HCC. The prevalence of portal invasion and intrehapatic metastasis was higher in patients with high ODC activities. We conclude that polyamine metabolism in HCC estimates the degree of malignancy.