Negative Correlation Between ADC Values and GPC3 Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Quantitative Diffusion-Weighted Imaging Study.
- 1Department of Radiology, the People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guangxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Nanning, People's Republic of China.
- 2Department of Pathology, the People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guangxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Nanning, People's Republic of China.
Abstract
Objective
To investigate the association between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) derived from diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and glypican-3 (GPC3) expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to explore the potential of ADC as a non-invasive imaging biomarker for assessing GPC3 expression.Methods
This retrospective study included 468 patients with pathologically confirmed HCC who underwent preoperative liver magnetic resonance imaging between January 2020 and December 2025. Based on immunohistochemical staining, patients were classified into three groups: GPC3-negative (GPC3-, n=69), low-expression (GPC3+, n=42), and high-expression (GPC3++, n=357). Tumor ADC values, adjacent liver tissue ADC values, and tumor-to-liver ADC ratios were measured and compared among groups. Statistical analyses included the Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U-test with Bonferroni correction, and Spearman correlation analysis.Results
Tumor ADC values differed significantly among the three groups (p<0.001), with median ADC values of 1.40 (1.34-1.46), 1.35 (1.28-1.42), and 1.27 (1.23-1.31) ×10⁻³ mm²/s in the GPC3-, GPC3+, and GPC3++ groups, respectively. The tumor-to-liver ADC ratios were 0.97 (0.94-1.00), 0.91 (0.88-0.94), and 0.87 (0.84-0.90), respectively, and also showed significant differences among groups (p<0.001). ADC values and ADC ratios were negatively correlated with GPC3 expression levels (r=-0.52 and r=-0.56, respectively; both p<0.001).Conclusion
Higher GPC3 expression in HCC was associated with lower tumor ADC values. Quantitative DWI-derived ADC, including both tumor ADC and the tumor-to-liver ADC ratio, may serve as a promising imaging biomarker associated with GPC3 expression, potentially offering supportive information for preoperative evaluation of HCC.
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BibTeX
@article{fu2026negative,
title = {{Negative Correlation Between ADC Values and GPC3 Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Quantitative Diffusion-Weighted Imaging Study.}},
author = {Zhao Fu and Yongta Huang and Ying Liu and Yuping Man},
journal = {Journal of hepatocellular carcinoma},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.2147/jhc.s639302},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903806},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Negative Correlation Between ADC Values and GPC3 Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Quantitative Diffusion-Weighted Imaging Study.
AU - Zhao Fu
AU - Yongta Huang
AU - Ying Liu
AU - Yuping Man
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - Journal of hepatocellular carcinoma
DO - 10.2147/jhc.s639302
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903806
AB - Objective To investigate the association between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) derived from diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and glypican-3 (GPC3) expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to explore the potential of ADC as a non-invasive imaging biomarker for assessing GPC3 expression.Methods This retrospective study included 468 patients with pathologically confirmed HCC who underwent preoperative liver magnetic resonance imaging between January 2020 and December 2025. Based on immunohistochemical staining, patients were classified into three groups: GPC3-negative (GPC3-, n=69), low-expression (GPC3+, n=42), and high-expression (GPC3++, n=357). Tumor ADC values, adjacent liver tissue ADC values, and tumor-to-liver ADC ratios were measured and compared among groups. Statistical analyses included the Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U-test with Bonferroni correction, and Spearman correlation analysis.Results Tumor ADC values differed significantly among the three groups (p<0.001), with median ADC values of 1.40 (1.34-1.46), 1.35 (1.28-1.42), and 1.27 (1.23-1.31) ×10⁻³ mm²/s in the GPC3-, GPC3+, and GPC3++ groups, respectively. The tumor-to-liver ADC ratios were 0.97 (0.94-1.00), 0.91 (0.88-0.94), and 0.87 (0.84-0.90), respectively, and also showed significant differences among groups (p<0.001). ADC values and ADC ratios were negatively correlated with GPC3 expression levels (r=-0.52 and r=-0.56, respectively; both p<0.001).Conclusion Higher GPC3 expression in HCC was associated with lower tumor ADC values. Quantitative DWI-derived ADC, including both tumor ADC and the tumor-to-liver ADC ratio, may serve as a promising imaging biomarker associated with GPC3 expression, potentially offering supportive information for preoperative evaluation of HCC.
SN - 2253-5969
ER -