Diagnostic value of cancer-testis antigen mRNA expression in peripheral blood of patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of cancer-testis antigen (CTA) mRNA in peripheral blood samples from patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods Peripheral blood samples were drawn from 30 patients with small HCC before operation.The expression of the above CTA genes in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was detected by using nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR),and serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels were also determined.Results Of the 30 patients,the positive rate of MAGE-1,SSX-1 and CTp11 transcripts was 26.6％ (6/30),26.6％ (6/30) and 16.6％ (5/30) in PBMCs,respectively.The positive rate for at least one of the three CTA gene transcripts was 40.0％ (12/30) in PBMCs of these patients.MAGE-1,SSX-1 and/or CTp11 mRNA were not detected in the PBMCs of those patients from whom the resected tumor sampies were negative for MAGE-1,SSX-1 and/or CTp11 mRNA,none in the PBMCs from 15 healthy donors and 15 cirrhotic patients.Among the 30 patients,there were only 6 patients whose serum AFP met the general diagnostic standard (AFP ＞ 400 μg/L) for HCC,whereas the other patients were negative for serum AFP (AFP ≤ 20 μg/L) or AFP positive with low concentration (20 μg/L ＜ AFP≤400 pg/L).The positive rate for at least one of the three CTA gene transcripts in PBMCs from the AFP negative patients or the AFP positive patients with low concentration was 33.3％ (5/15) and 44.4％ (4/9),respectively.50.0％ (15/30) of the patients with small HCC could be diagnosed by combining the results of the nested RT-PCR and the serum AFP detection,and this diagnostic rate was significantly higher than that (20.0％)made by AFP detection alone (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Detecting MAGE-1,SSX-1 and CTp11 mRNA in PBMCs is va1uable for diagnosing the patients with small HCC. Key words: Carcinoma,hepatocellular; Cancer-testis antigen; Diagnosis