RESUMO
Programmed cell death factor 4 (PDCD4) is one of the genes that has been found to be up-regulated during apoptosis and loss of PDCD4 expression has been found in many kinds of progressive carcinomas. The objective of this study was to investigate the interactions between PDCD4 and smoking status in hepatocellular carcinoma. This case-controlled study included 68 Chinese male patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who were classified as smokers or non-smokers according to their pack-years of smoking status. Samples were obtained from carcinoma and normal tissues and examined using Western blotting. The results indicated that levels of PDCD4 were significantly lower in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues compared with normal tissues and that, in normal tissue, PDCD4 levels in smokers were significantly lower than in non-smokers.