Expression of Ezrin, HGF and C-met and its Clinicopathological Significance in the Benign and Malignant Lesions of the Gallbladder

Background/Aims: To investigate the expression of Ezrin, HGF and C-met in the benign and malignant lesions of the gallbladder. Methodology: Ezrin, HGF and C-met expression was detected by immunohistochemistry. Results: The positive Ezrin, HGF and C-met expression was significantly higher in gallbladder adenocarcinoma than in benign lesions. The benign lesions with positive Ezrin, HGF and/or C-met expression showed moderately- or severely-atypical hyperplastic epithelium. The positive expression of Ezrin, HGF and C-met was significantly associated with differentiation, tumor mass, lymph node metastasis and invasion of adenocarcinoma. Univariate Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that increased expression of Ezrin, HGF and C-met was associated with decreased overall survival. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that increased expression of Ezrin, HGF or C-met was an independent bad-prognostic predictor in gallbladder adenocarcinoma. Conclusions: The expression of Ezrin, HGF and/or C-met might be closely related to the carcinogenesis, progression, clinical biological behaviors and prognosis of gallbladder adenocarcinoma.