The Clinical Values of Serum Markers in the Early Prediction of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Bo Li,Weijiao Chen,Zhiqiang Sun,Han Wang,Xiaoxi Li,Yuanli Mao,Boan Li,Tongsheng Guo,Peng Chen,Xiaohan Li

doi:10.1155/2017/5358615

Abstract

The early prediction values of diagnostic markers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still unclear at present. This study evaluated the prediction value of ten serum markers in HCC. A total of 109 cases of hepatic cirrhosis patients were followed up for 36 months and the relationship between the lifetime risk of developing HCC and levels of serum markers was analyzed. 31.2 (34/109) percent of hepatic cirrhosis patients developed HCC during the study's timeframe. Higher alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), alpha-fetoprotein-L3 (AFP-L3), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and AFP-L3/AFP ratio levels are potential risk factors for malignization in hepatic cirrhosis patients (RR = 2.99, 2.92, 2.72, and 2.34); serum Golgi protein 73 (GP73) level of hepatic cirrhosis patients decreased significantly after developing HCC (t = 2.212; p = 0.041). The detection of ALT, AFP, AFP-L3, and GP73 has a certain guiding significance to predict the risk of HCC in hepatic cirrhosis patients.

Highlights

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth leading cause of cancer death worldwide and about 500,000 people die of it each year [1]
The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) once recommended that AFP and ultrasound examination were used for HCC surveillance in hepatic cirrhosis population, but analysis of recent studies shows that AFP determination lacks adequate sensitivity and specificity for effective surveillance [8]
Novel biomarkers are urgently needed for the screening of HCC to reduce its high mortality; many studies have reported that lens culinaris agglutinin reactive AFP (AFP-L3) and Golgi protein 73 (GP73) are effective for the HCC early diagnosis [9,10,11], but there has been a lack of clinical follow-up from hepatic cirrhosis stage to HCC

Summary

Introduction

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth leading cause of cancer death worldwide and about 500,000 people die of it each year [1]. More than 90% of HCC cases develop as a consequence of underlying liver diseases, and hepatic cirrhosis occurs in 80% of cases [2,3,4]. More than 60% of patients are diagnosed with late-stage disease after metastasis has occurred [5], resulting in an overall 5-year survival rate of

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