Therefore, we examined the expression pattern of YAP and TAZ in 141 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma keratin 19 positive (HCC K19⁺), hepatocellular carcinoma keratin 19 negative (HCC K19<sup>-</sup>), combined hepatocellular⁻cholangiocarcinoma carcinoma (cHCC-CCA), or cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).
The correlation between poor prognosis and increased yes-associated protein 1 expression in keratin 19 expressing hepatocellular carcinomas and cholangiocarcinomas.
Multiplex protein labeling of CC and morphometric analyses showed: 1) up-regulation of ZEB-1, and 2) down-regulation of CK19 in intrahepatic CC compared to nonneoplastic BEC, consistent with previous CC proteomic studies showing EMT during cholangiocarcinogenesis.
Using a proteomic approach and double-fluorescent staining, we identified high expression and colocalization of albumin and cytokeratin-19 in liver fluke-associated cholangiocarcinoma tissues, compared with normal livers from cholangiocarcinoma patients and cadaveric donors, respectively.
The TERT and Cytokeratin-19 promoters are highly expressed in cholangiocarcinoma and seem suitable to restrict adenoviral gene therapy to these intra-hepatic tumours.
Furthermore, the results show that a mixed biological phenotype (ie, CK 8, CK 18 and CK 7 and/or CK 19) can be found both among morphologically pure HCCs and peripheral CCs, suggesting that these two forms could share a common histogenesis.