摘要
BACKGROUND In hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC),detection and treatment prior to growth beyond 2 cm are relevant as a larger tumor size is more frequently associated with microvascular invasion and/or satellites.AIM To examine the impact of the tumor marker alpha-fetoprotein(AFP)or PIVKA-II in detecting very small HCC nodules(≤2 cm in maximum diameter,Barcelona stage 0)in the large number of very small HCC.The difference in the behavior of these tumor markers in HCC development was also examined.METHODS A total of 933 patients with single-nodule HCC were examined.They were subdivided into 394 patients with HCC nodules≤2 cm in maximum diameter and 539 patients whose nodules were>2 cm.The rates of patients whose AFP and PIVKA-II showed normal values were examined.RESULTS The positive ratio of the marker PIVKA-II was significantly different(P<0.0001)between patients with nodules≤2 cm in diameter and those with nodules>2 cm,but there was no significant difference in AFP(P=0.4254).In the patients whose tumor was≤2 cm,50.5%showed normal levels in AFP and 68.8%showed normal levels in PIVKA-II.In 36.4%of those patients,both AFP and PIVKA-II showed normal levels.The PIVKA-II-positive ratio was markedly increased with an increase in the tumor size.In contrast,the positivity in AFP was increased gradually and slowly.CONCLUSION In the surveillance of very small HCC nodules(≤2 cm in diameter,Barcelona clinical stage 0)the tumor markers AFP and PIVKA-II are not so useful.
