Prognostic impact of Fas ligand on hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy

The expression of Fas ligand on tumor cells may counterattack the host's immunity and worsen the prognosis. Knowledge of the prognostic impact of Fas ligand on patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after hepatectomy is still limited. Fas ligand expression in HCCs was examined in 59 patients who underwent hepatectomy for HCC. The prognosis was analyzed and correlated to the expression of Fas ligand. Expression of Fas ligand was detected by immunohistochemical staining in 27 of the 59 HCCs (45.8%). The Fas ligand was expressed in only a small number of cancer cells. However, even though only a few cancer cells expressed it, the prognosis for patients whose HCCs showed Fas ligand expression was worse than that for patients with an HCC without Fas ligand expression. The mean disease-free survival was only 10.83+/-1.90 months when HCCs expressed Fas ligand compared with 43.51+/-7.02 months for those without Fas ligand expression (p=0.0007). The overall patient survival was 28.34+/- 4.08 months when the HCC expressed Fas ligand compared with 55.31+/-5.37 months for HCC without Fas ligand expression (p=0.0003). The expression of Fas ligand did not correlate with the presentation of other prognostic factors. Fas ligand expression is thus an independent prognostic factor for HCC. Thus the HCC expressing Fas ligand has a worse prognosis than the HCC without Fas ligand expression.