Differences in ornithin decarboxylase genes of noncancerous liver tissue and human hepatocellular carcinoma

摘要

Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is essential for cell growth. Itsactivity is high in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues andhighest in poorly differentiated HCC. To find if there aretumor-specific ornithine decarboxylases, I examined the ODC cDNAsequences of 91 clones prepared from HCC tissue and noncanceroustissue of resected liver specimens from 15 patients with HCC. ODCgene mutations were detected in a larger proportion of HCC tissuesamples than in noncancerous tissue.