In this retrospective study, we included 141 samples from patients who received curative treatment at Shanghai General Hospital. All patients met the following inclusion criteria: 1) available baseline data and histologic material, 2) HCC diagnosed by a physician based on unambiguous histologic characteristics (Sun et al., 2011 (link)). Age, gender, hepatitis B virus surface antigens (HBsAg), liver cirrhosis, α-fetoprotein (AFP), Child-Pugh grade, tumor size, tumor number, tumor differentiation grade, tumor distribution, and pathological Tumor Node Metastasis stage (TNM stage) were all systematically recorded. All patients provided informed consent, and the academic study was conducted in accordance with ethical standards.
The primary antibody was anti-KLF4 (1:500, Santa Cruz Biotechnology). The IHC procedures were performed carried out precisely as described previously (Sun et al., 2016 (link); Sun et al., 2017 (link)). KLF4 staining was classified into three categories based on the intensity of the staining and the percentage of positive cells: weak/negative, moderate, and strong (Wei et al., 2005 (link)). In addition, in order to differentiate between low and high KLF4 expression, negative/weak expression was deemed low, whereas moderate/strong expression was deemed high.
The primary antibody was anti-KLF4 (1:500, Santa Cruz Biotechnology). The IHC procedures were performed carried out precisely as described previously (Sun et al., 2016 (link); Sun et al., 2017 (link)). KLF4 staining was classified into three categories based on the intensity of the staining and the percentage of positive cells: weak/negative, moderate, and strong (Wei et al., 2005 (link)). In addition, in order to differentiate between low and high KLF4 expression, negative/weak expression was deemed low, whereas moderate/strong expression was deemed high.
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