Abstract
The serum apolipoprotein A (Apo A) and α-fetoprotein (AFP) were evaluated in histologically verified 30* cases of alcoholic cirrhosis and 18 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The latter were also divided into subgroups depending on the presence or absence of associated cirrhosis. Serum Apo A levels were found to be significantly decreased in cirrhotics (p < 0.001) compared to controls and non-cirrhotic HCC patients. In 22 cases of alcoholic cirrhosis (AFP < 10 ng/ml) and 12 cases of HCC (AFP > 600 ng/ml), the AFP levels itself* were diagnostic, but in the remaining cases, AFP levels (100-600 ng/ml) were not able to differentiate between cirrhosis and malignancy. In this later group of patients with low pathological range of AFP, serum Apo A levels found to be significantly decreased in alcoholic cirrhotic patients (p < 0.001) compared to HCC patients. Thus, estimation of Apo A levels may be helpful to interpret the AFP values at lower pathological range due to suspected liver pathology.
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