Correlation between serum alpha-fetoprotein variant levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and the presence of alpha-fetoprotein mRNA in the circulating blood.
- Author:
Xiao-yan KANG
1
;
Zheng-feng YIN
;
Hai-hua QIAN
;
Zong-di WU
;
Zi-xi YU
;
Meng-chao WU
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH: Adult; Aged; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; blood; Female; Humans; Liver Neoplasms; blood; Male; Middle Aged; RNA, Messenger; blood; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; alpha-Fetoproteins; analysis; genetics
- From: Chinese Journal of Hepatology 2003;11(1):17-19
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) variant levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cancer cells disseminating through blood.
METHODSSerum AFP variant levels were measured by crossed immunoaffino-electrophoresis in the presence of lectin before initial surgical treatment in HCC patients. Circulating tumor cells were simultaneously detected in pre-operative blood samples using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for AFP mRNA.
RESULTSForty-six HCC patients with serum AFP positive were studied. Serum AFP variant level > or 20% was showed in 37 patients, among whom there were 22 (59.5%) showing AFP mRNA positive. In contrast, the positive AFP mRNA expression was only observed in 2 out of 9 patients (22.2%) with AFP variant level<20% (x(2)=4.02, P<0.05).
CONCLUSIONIn hepatocellular carcinoma patients, increased AFP variant levels are associated with a haematogenous spread of tumor cells.
