Aim: To clarify the location and distribution of Kupffer cells in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to investigate their role in hepatocarcinogenesis.
Methods: Kupffer cells were immunohistochemically stained by streptavadin-peroxidase conjugated method (S-P). The numbers of Kupffer cells in cancerous, para-cancerous and adjacent normal liver tissues of 48 HCCs were comparatively examined.
Results: The mean number of Kupffer cells in cancerous, para-cancerous and adjacent normal liver tissues was 12.7+/-6.8, 18.1+/-8.2 and 18.9+/-7.9 respectively. The number of Kuppfer cells in cancerous tissues was significantly lower than that in para-cancerous tissues (t=2.423, P<0.05) and adjacent normal liver tissues (t=2.521, P<0.05). As tumor size increased, the number of Kupffer cells in cancerous tissues significantly decreased (F=4.61, P<0.05). Moreover, there was also a significant difference in the number of Kupffer cells among well-differentiated, moderately-differentiated and poorly-differentiated cases(F=4.49, P<0.05).
Conclusion: This study suggests that decrease of Kupffer cells in HCCs may play an important role in the carcinogenesis of HCC, the number of Kupffer cells in HCC is closely related to the size and differentiation grade of the tumor.