Hepatocyte Growth Factor and c-Met/Hepatocyte Growth Factor Receptor in Pulmonary Adenocarcinomas: An Evaluation of Their Expression as Prognostic Markers

Abstract

The expression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor, c-Met, was investigated immunohistologically in tissue specimens of patients with a pulmonary adenocarcinoma. The prognosis was significantly worse in the HGF-positive or c-Met-positive patients than in the negative patients. Multivariate analysis showed that c-Met had a significant effect on the prognosis, whereas HGF did not. Our findings suggest that HGF and c-Met play an important role in tumor progression and that c-Met can be a useful prognostic marker for pulmonary adenocarcinomas.