Oatp1b3 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma correlates with intralesional gd-eob-dtpa uptake and signal intensity on gd-eob-dtpa-enhanced mri

Abstract

Background: To evaluate the predictive value of the OATP1B3 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for the gadolinium ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) uptake and the signal intensity (SI) in the hepatobiliary (HB) phase. Methods: In this retrospective study, we analyzed 69 liver nodules of 64 patients who underwent Gd-EOB-DTPA enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before opera-tion. Based on the SI in the HB phase, the patients were categorized into the hypointense HCC and iso-or hyperintense HCC groups. The OATP1B3 expression was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry. The differences between the expression of OATP1B3 and Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced magnetic resonance imaging between the two groups of hepatocellular carcinoma were compared. The relationship between the OATP1B3 expression and the SI and relative enhancement (RE) was analyzed. Results: The examined HCC nodules were 59 hypointense HCC and 10 iso-or hyperintense. The relative expressions of OATP1B3, HB-phase signal, and the RE of the HB phase in iso-or hyperintense were significantly higher than those of the hypointense HCC, while the RE of the HB phase increased with an increase in the OATP1B3 expression (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The OATP1B3 expression in HCC can predict the uptake of Gd-EOB-DTPA and the SI of the HB phase. We believe that the evaluation of OATP1B3 expression will facilitate the comprehension of imaging performance of HCC in Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI.