Detection of AFP mRNA in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma and its Significance
10.3321/j.issn:1000-467X.2001.01.013
- VernacularTitle:肝细胞癌患者外周血甲胎蛋白mRNA的检测及意义
- Author:
Ji CAO
1
;
Liu-Liang QIN
;
Jian-Jia SU
;
Yuan LI
;
Nan-Wu YANG
;
Wei-Min XIE
;
Ke-Chen BAN
;
Chao OU
;
Qin-Guo MO
Author Information
1. Guangxi Cancer Institute
- From:Chinese Journal of Cancer
2001;20(1):53-56
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective： The current study was designed to search into the detection of micrometastasis in peripheral blood in the patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)and its significance.Method： Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 65 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, 21 non-HCC malignant tumors, 22 chronic hepatitis B or cirrhosis, and 21 cases of normal healthy volunteers. For identifying hepatocellular carcinoma cells in peripheral blood, the authors detected liver-specific alpha-fetoprotein(AFP) mRNA from total RNA extracted from whole blood by nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(Nested-RT-PCR). Results： AFP-mRNA was not detected in the normal healthy volunteers and the patient with non-HCC malignant tumors. The presence of AFP-mRNA in the patients with HCC (67.7％ ,44/65) was higher than those with chronic hepatitis B or cirrhosis ( 9.1％ ,2/22,P< 0.01). The detective rate of AFP-mRNA in the blood seemed to be correlated with the clinical stages of HCC, the presence of extrahepatic metastasis, and portal vein thrombosis. The positive AFP-mRNA in peripheral blood after treatment was correlated with the prognosis of the patients with HCC. AFP-mRNA was detected in 7 of 12 (58.3％) HCC patients with low level of serum AFP (< 25 μg/L). Conclusions： The presence of AFP-mRNA in peripheral blood may be an indicator of malignant or benign hepatocytes, which might predicate hematogenous spreading metastasis of tumor cells in the patients with HCC, it might be a valuable marker for predicting metastasis and recurrence of HCC, and it might play a supplementary role in the diagnosis of HCC with negative or low level of serum AFP.
