Biomarkers, Tumor ; blood ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; RNA, Messenger ; blood ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; analysis

No abstract available.
Biological Markers/*blood ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/*diagnosis ; Protein Precursors/*blood ; Prothrombin ; Tumor Markers, Biological/*blood

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist II (PIVKA-II) appears to be a useful tumor marker for the evaluation of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). But the usefulness of PIVKA-II was not yet clear in Korea where hepatitis B-virus is endemic. We investigated the usefulness of PIVKA-II in the diagnosis and follow-up after treatment of HCC. METHODS: We studied patients with HCC which was pathologically confirmed. PIVKA-II was measured by enzyme immunoassay. PIVKA-II levels before and after treatment, in correlation with imaging studies, were analyzed for the comparison of treatment responses. Kappa index was obtained. RESULTS: A total of 129 patients were included. 93 patients (72%) were HBsAg positive. 86 patients (67%) were PIVKA-II >40 mAU/mL. 52 patients (40%) were AFP >20 ng/mL and 77 patients (60%) were AFP 40 mAU/mL. 68 of 129 patients were evaluated treatment response. On the basis of radiologic response, CR was 33, PR 17, SD 12, and PD 6. Of the 33 radiologic CR patients, 30 patients were CR and 3 patients were PR by means of PIVKA-II response. Of the 17 radiologic PR patients, 6 patients were CR and 7 patients were PR. Therefore, tumor responses by radiologic and PIVKA-II were well correlated (Kappa index was 0.59). CONCLUSIONS: PIVKA-II can be used as a useful tumor marker for patients with HCC, especially those with low levels of AFP, before and after treatment in Korea.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/*diagnosis/therapy ; English Abstract ; Human ; Liver Neoplasms/*diagnosis/therapy ; Protein Precursors/*blood ; Prothrombin ; Tumor Markers, Biological/*blood

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical significance of AFP-L3 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

METHODSSerum AFP-L3 variants were separated by micro centrifugal column, and detected by chemiluminescence.

RESULTSAFP and AFP-L3 levels were higher in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma than those in patients with chronic hepatitis (P<0.001); as a diagnostic target, the sensitivity and specificity of AFP-L3 were 72.3 percent and 97.2 percent, respectively. Eight patients with hepatitis have higher AFP-L3, but none of them were found with carcinoma by CT three months later.

CONCLUSIONAFP-L3 is very useful in the diagnosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Adult ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; diagnosis ; Centrifugation ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; analysis ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the usefulness of new microspincolumn method for the measurement of a1pha-fetoprotein variant AFP-L3 in differentiation of benign and malignant liver disease and the warming for liver cancer.

METHODSAFP-L3 was isolated by using microspincolumn coupled with lens culinaris agglutinin (LCA), AFP and AFP-L3 were determined with chemiluminescent immunoassay, the proportion of AFP-L3 levels AFP-L3(%) were calculated, and the relationship between the elevated AFP-L3(%) levels and benign and malignant liver disease was analyzed.

RESULTSThe levels of AFP-L3(%) in serum of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma was significantly higher than those in the patients with other liver diseases (P < 0.001). Taking AFP-L3(%) >or= 10% as the diagnostic criteria, the sensitivity for diagnosis of liver cancer was 90.9%.

CONCLUSIONDetection of AFP-L3 seemed to be of clinical value in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma; it may be especially important for identifying patients with hepatocellular carcinoma whose a1pha-fetoprotein level is low.

Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; blood ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Immunoassay ; methods ; Liver Cirrhosis ; blood ; diagnosis ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; diagnosis ; Luminescent Measurements ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Young Adult ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; analysis

Biomarkers, Tumor ; blood ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; diagnosis ; Female ; Gene Amplification ; Humans ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor II ; analysis ; genetics ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; diagnosis ; Male ; Prognosis ; RNA, Messenger ; blood

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical significance and diagnostic value of GP73 in early-stage primary hepatocelluar carcinoma (PHC).

METHODSGP73 levels in 50 healthy controls, 65 cases of liver cirrhosis and 40 early stage PHC were detected by ELISA. The areas under ROC, sensitivities and specificities were also compared. The relationship between GP73 and liver function parameters was analyzed.

RESULTSThe median of serum GP73 in early PHC was 291.3 µg/L, significantly higher than that in the cirrhosis group 211.8 µg/L and in the control group 58.3 µg/L (all P<0.01). The sensitivity of GP73 (72.5%) was significantly higher than that of AFP (50.0%), P<0.05. The specificity of GP73 (70.4%) was lower than that of AFP (95.7%), P<0.05. The sensitivity and specificity in combination for diagnosis were 77.5% and 79.1%, and the area under ROC curve in the combining form was 0.838 (95% CI:0.760-0.917). In the early PHC patients, the median of GP73 in the Child C group was 365.2 µg/L, significantly higher than that in the Child B group 310.6 µg/L and Child A group 266.4 µg/L, P = 0.002. In patients with liver cirrhosis, the median of GP73 in the Child B group was 307.3 µg/L, significantly higher than that in the Child A group 176.6 µg/L, P = 0.031. The level of serum GP73 was positively correlated with ALT, AST, negatively with ABL, A/G, and with no significant correlation with AFP, TBLB, DBLB, IBLB, and GGT.

CONCLUSIONSGP73 has a superior sensitivity in detecting early-stage PHC in liver cirrhosis patients. The sensitivity can be further increased by combining with AFP. The changes of GP73 expression may be related with the decline of liver function.

Aged ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; blood ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; blood ; diagnosis ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; diagnosis ; Male ; Membrane Proteins ; blood ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo explore the diagnostic value of the measurement of serum Golgi protein 73 (GP73) in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODSEnzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the serum GP73 in the 81 cases of HCC, 71 cases of chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis (CH/LC) and 65 cases of healthy blood donors, and to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of HCC through the ROC curves.

RESULTSThe average levels of serum GP73 in HCC, CH/LC and Normal groups were (152.67 +/- 33.59) ng/ml, (93.15 +/- 20.02) ng/ml and (58.95 +/- 17.29) ng/ml(o) After calculating through the ROC curves, 120 ng/ml was set as the optimal cut-off point, GP73 has a sensitivity of 77.80% and a specificity of 78.00%.

CONCLUSIONSGP73 as a serum marker in the diagnosis of HCC had a higher sensitivity than AFP, and the combined detection of GP73 and AFP could improve HCC diagnosis.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; diagnosis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; blood ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Male ; Membrane Proteins ; blood ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; analysis

Nodular hepatic involvement of multiple myeloma is very rare. We report a case of nodular hepatic involvement of multiple myeloma, mimicking hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/blood supply/*diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; English Abstract ; Human ; Liver Neoplasms/blood supply/*diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/*diagnosis

OBJECTIVETo study the dynamic changes of blood hormone levels in H22 liver cancer mice of poisonous pathogenic factors syndromes (PPFS) to different degrees.

METHODSTwo hundred and twenty mice were injected with H22 tumor cells from their armpits. On the ninth day after inoculation the mice of severe poisonous pathogenic factors syndrome (SPPFS) and of mild poisonous pathogenic factors syndrome (MPPFS) were screened. Besides, another normal control group consisting of 30 mice was set up. The mice were killed on the tenth and eleventh day after inoculation (as the 1st and 2nd time window). The weight of the tumor, the wet weight of the thymus and the spleen were weighed. The plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), corticosterone, aldosterone, thyroid hormone T3 and T4, testosterone, TNF-alpha, and IFN-gamma were detected by ELISA. All the aforesaid laboratory parameters were analyzed.

RESULTSThe tumor weight was obviously larger in mice of the SPPFS group than in those of the MPPFS group at the same time window (P < or = 0.05). Compared with the normal control group, the thymus was obviously atrophied (P < or = 0.05), the spleen was significantly enlarged (P < or = 0.05), the plasma ACTH significantly increased (P < or = 0.05) in the SPPFS group at the two time windows. But the increment of ACTH was less in the MPPFS group. The plasma corticosterone showed similar tendency as that of ACTH. At the 1st time window the plasma testosterone significantly increased in the two groups (P < or = 0.05). The plasma testosterone and T4 showed a decreasing tendency in the SPPFS group. The plasma TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma levels showed an increasing trend in the two groups. Correlation study showed that the degree of PPFS was negatively correlated with qi deficiency (r = -0.766, P < or = 0.05) and T4 (r = -0.738, P < or = 0.05). The degrees of PPFS was positively correlated with the plasma ACTH level (r = 0.635, P < or = 0.05). The degree of qi deficiency was positively correlated with yang heat syndrome (r = 0.632, P < or = 0.05). The plasma ACTH was negatively correlated with T4 (r = -0.504, P < or = 0.05). The plasma testosterone was positively correlated with TNF-alpha (r = 0.619, P < or = 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSPPFS occurs naturally and shows difference to different degrees in the development of H22 liver cancer. The disorders of neuroendocrine hormones and the suppression of the immune function show dynamic changing trends.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; blood ; Animals ; Corticosterone ; blood ; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental ; blood ; diagnosis ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Testosterone ; blood ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood