Microsatellite alterations in liver fluke related cholangiocarcinoma are associated with poor prognosis.

We have characterized the role of genetic alterations in the development of liver fluke related cholangiocarcinoma. We analyzed the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability (MSI) of hMSH2, hMLH1, and p53 genes in 55 patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma by using polymerase chain reaction based microsatellite markers D2S119, D3S1611, and TP53, respectively and determined the association between microsatellite alterations and patient survival. A total of 27 (49.1%) out of 55 cases exhibited microsatellite alterations in one locus or more. Of 55 samples, 11 (20%) demonstrated MSI at D2S119 and four (7%) showed MSI at D3S1611. LOH was shown in seven out of 36 (19%) informative cases for D3S1611 and 16 out of 50 (32%) for TP53. Microsatellite alterations at loci studied were significantly associated with poor survival (P=0.0098). This study suggests that genetic alterations of DNA mismatch repair genes and tumor suppressor gene p53 may be involved in cholangiocarcinogenesis and these alterations may be of value as prognostic indicators for liver fluke related cholangiocarcinoma.