Abstract:Objective:To investigate the correlation of the expressions of PTTG and VEGF proteins in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, and study its role in the development of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Methods:Expression of PTTG and VEGF proteins was detected by SABC immunohistochemical technique in 36 cases of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, 30 cases of adjacent histologically noncancerous bile duct tissues and 12 cases of benign bile duct lesions. Results:The positive rates of PTTG and VEGF proteins were 72.2%(26/36) and 83.3%(30/36) respectively,in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma; and 63.3%(19/30) and 76.7%(23/30) in adjacent histologically noncancerous bile duct tissues. The expression of PTTG protein was significantly positively correlated with that of VEGF protein (P<0.05) in cholangiocarcinoma. In contrast,no expression of PTTG and VEGF proteins was detectable in 12 cases of benign bile duct lesions (P<0.01). The expression of PTTG and VEGF was closely related to metastasis of extrahepatic cholangiocarcionoma,but was not related to sex or age of the patients,tumor size or tumor differentiation. Conclusions:There is a significant positive correlation between high expressions of PTTG and VEGF proteins in cholangiocarcinoma. The high expressions of PTTG and VEGF proteins may be related to the metastasis of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.