Histological type of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma differentiated by genetic alteration from AP-PCR fingerprint.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), the malignant neoplasm of the biliary epithelium, is usually fatal due to difficulty in early diagnosis and lack of availability of effective therapy. The genetic mechanisms involved in the development of CCA are not well understood and only a few cytogenetic studies have been published. In this study, genomic instability in 30 Thai cases of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) was assessed using an arbitrarily primed-polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) method. Genetic alterations were analyzed as banding pattern changes between tumors and corresponding normal DNA. The abnormal band present at the highest frequency (23/30 cases, 77%) appeared with the AO16 primer. Statistical analysis also showed that DNA alteration from this primer was significantly associated with the moderately to poorly differentiated histological type (P = 0.038). Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed borderline significance for this DNA aberration (P = 0.06 by the log-rank test). This DNA fragment may thus be of use to predict degree of malignancy of the disease.