To study the distribution and significance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) C33c antigen, and core antigen in human primary intrahepato-cholangiocarcinoma tissues (PIC). Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect HCV ...To study the distribution and significance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) C33c antigen, and core antigen in human primary intrahepato-cholangiocarcinoma tissues (PIC). Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect HCV antigen and HBxAg. Results: HCV C33c antigen was present in the cytoplasm of cancer cells and hepatic cells and HCV core antigen was present mainly in the nuclei of cancerous tissues and in the cytoplasm of pericancerous liver tissues. In cancerous tissues and pericancerous tissues the positive rates of HCV C33c antigen were 60% (21/35) and 100% (21/21 ) respectively; the positive rates of HCV core antigen were 87. 8% (29/ 33 ) and 61. 9% (13/21) respectively; the positive rates of HBxAg were 74. 3% (26/35) and 76. 2% (16/21) respectively; the simultaneously positive rates of C33c and HBxAg were 48. 6% (17/35) and 76. 2% (16/21). Conclusion: Besides hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, HCV infection may play an important role in the carcinogenesis of PIC.展开更多
While hepatitis B virus(HBV)screening relies on hepatitis B surface antigen to confirm HBV infection since the early days of hepatitis B disease management,hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection screening is based on anti-HC...While hepatitis B virus(HBV)screening relies on hepatitis B surface antigen to confirm HBV infection since the early days of hepatitis B disease management,hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection screening is based on anti-HCV testing which does not discriminate active from past infection.Thus to confirm infection HCV RNA testing has been required;recently a HCV core antigen assay became widely commercially available which could serve to confirm infection.That assay is less sensitive than current HCV RNA assays,but as more than 50%of anti-HCV positive persons will be HCV core antigen positive,HCV core antigen testing can be a cost effective and reflex test to confirm HCV infection in anti-HCV positive individuals and will be easier as it can be applied on the same platform.For treatment monitoring,more data need to be generated,but the early data available at present suggest that HCV core antigen may be an alternative to HCV RNA monitoring.With direct antivirals,HCV core antigen could even be superior to HCV RNA testing,as direct antivirals might already prevent virus formation when HCV core antigen is still produced and thereby correlates better with eventual viral clearance.展开更多
AIM： To investigate the correlation between hepatitis B virus surface antigen （HBsAg）, hepatitis C virus （HCV） expression in hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）, the HAI score of the noncancerous region of the liver...AIM： To investigate the correlation between hepatitis B virus surface antigen （HBsAg）, hepatitis C virus （HCV） expression in hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）, the HAI score of the noncancerous region of the liver and the serum Alpha fetoprotein （AFP） level. METHODS： The patterns of HBsAg and HCV in 100 cases of HCC and their surrounding liver tissues were studied on paraffin-embedded sections with immunohistochemistry, the histological status was determined by one pathologist and one surgeon simultaneously using the hepatitis activity index （HAIl score, and AFP was detected by radioimmunity. The study included 100 consecutive patients who underwent curative resection for HCC. Based on HBsAg and HCV expression, the patients were classified into 4 groups： patients positive for HBsAg （HBsAg group）, patients positive for HCV （HCV group）, patients negative for both HCV and HBsAg （NBNC group） and patients positive for both HBsAg and HCV （BC group）. RESULTS： The BC group had significantly higher HAI scores than the other three groups. （BC 〉 HCV 〉 HBsAg 〉 NBNC）. HBV and HCV virus infection was positively correlated with HAI （rs = 0.39, P = 0.00011. The positive rate of AFP （85.7%） and the value of AFP （541.2 ng/mL） in the group with HBV and HCV co-infection were the highest among the four groups. The positive rate （53.3%） of AFP and the value of AFP （ 53.3 ng/mL） in the group with none-infection of HBV and HCV were the lowest. HBV and HCV virus infection was positively correlated with AFP（rs = 0.38, P = 0.0001）. CONCLUSION： The AFP increase in patients with liver cancer was positively correlated with the infection of HBV and HCV. The-serum AFP elevation by the infection of HBV and HCV is one of mechanisms which lead to hepatocarcinogenesis, and the antivirus intervening treatment of hepatitis is significant for the prognosis of liver cancer. From our Spearman＇s rank correlation analysis, we can conclude that the severity of virally induced inflammation is correlated with HBsAg and HCV expression in HCC tissues and noncancerous tissues. Prior co-infection of HBV in HCV patients may be an adverse risk factor for intrahepatic inflammation.展开更多
OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between oval cells and primary hepatocarcinoma and the expression of c-kit and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in oval cells of rats with hepatocellular carcinoma. METHOD...OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between oval cells and primary hepatocarcinoma and the expression of c-kit and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in oval cells of rats with hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: A hundred and twenty clean SD rats were divided into three groups: normal group, cancer-induction group and intervention group. The normal group was fed with standard forage while the rest two groups were fed with 3'-methyl-2-methylamino-azobenzene (DAB) to induce carcinoma for 14 weeks and then fed with standard forage and water. Uscharidin was injected abdominally to the intervention group from the first week to the 14th week. All rats were killed and biopsy specimens were taken from the left and right liver lobes for immunohistochemical staining of c-kit and PCNA on the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, 20th, 22nd, and 24th week. RESULTS: From the 2nd to 14th week after liver infection, c-kit positive cells, mainly oval cells were found in the portal area in the carcinoma-induction group and dotted positive pigmentations in liver lobules. In the 22nd week, a large number of cancerous nodes occurred and nuclei heteromorphi-m was apparent; the number of positive cell decreased but positive cells could be sparsely observed in cancerous nodes. In the 2nd week of the carcinoma-induction process, PCNA positive cells were oval cells in the portal area. In the 4th week, a lot of hepatic cells were positively stained, especially in the central vein area. In the 6th week, PCNA positive cells could be seen in the lobules of the liver. In the 8th week, the number of PCNA cells decreased comparatively. From the 10th to 14th week, oval cells in the portal area were still over-expressed. From the 16th to 24th week, a large number of cancerous nodes occurred and PCNA was over-expressed in some of them. In necrotic cancerous nodes, the para-cancerous PCNA positive cells were sparsely distributed and their number was less than that of PCNA positive cells of cancerous tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatic stem cells originating from the terminal biliary plexus of the portal area are involved in the development of hepatocarcinoma because c-kit positive cells expressed in cancerous nodes, accompany the whole process of the development. In the middle inflammatory period of carcinoma-induction, the expression of PCNA in hepatic cells peaked, but the index decreased in the late inflammatory period and in the proliferated fibrosis stage. The expression of PCNA is a tortuous process, going up, down, then up again from normal tissues to cancerous tissues. Combined with pathological findings, PCNA can be considered as a warning index for carcinomatous cells.展开更多
BACKGROUND Current diagnosis of hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection requires two sequential steps:testing for anti-HCV followed by HCV RNA PCR to confirm viremia.We have developed a highly sensitive and specific HCV-antig...BACKGROUND Current diagnosis of hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection requires two sequential steps:testing for anti-HCV followed by HCV RNA PCR to confirm viremia.We have developed a highly sensitive and specific HCV-antigens enzyme immunoassay(HCV-Ags EIA)for one-step diagnosis of viremic HCV infection.AIM To assess the clinical application of the HCV-Ags EIA in one-step diagnosis of viremic HCV infection in human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)-coinfected individuals.METHODS The study blindly tested HCV-Ags EIA for its performance in one-step diagnosing viremic HCV infection in 147 sera:10 without HCV or HIV infection;54 with viremic HCV monoinfection;38 with viremic HCV/HIV coinfection;and 45 with viremic HCV and non-viremic HIV coinfection.RESULTS Upon decoding,it was 100%accordance of HCV-Ags EIA to HCV infection status by HCV RNA PCR test.In five sera with HCV infection,HCV RNA was as low as 50-59 IU/mL,and four out of five tested positive for HCV-Ags EIA.Likewise,it was also 100%accordance of HCV-Ags EIA to HCV infection status by HCV RNA PCR in 83 sera with HCV and HIV coinfection,regardless if HIV infection was active or not.CONCLUSION The modified HCV-Ags EIA has a lower detection limit equivalent to serum HCV RNA levels of approximately 100 IU/mL.It is highly sensitive and specific in the setting of HIV coinfection,regardless of HIV infection status and CD4 count.These data support the clinical application of the HCV-Ags EIA in one-step diagnosis of HCV infection in HIV-infected individuals.展开更多
A fundamental goal in cellular signaling is to understand allosteric communication, the process by which sig-nals originating at one site in a protein propagate reliably to affect distant functional sites. The general...A fundamental goal in cellular signaling is to understand allosteric communication, the process by which sig-nals originating at one site in a protein propagate reliably to affect distant functional sites. The general principles of protein structure that underlie this process remain unknown. Statistical coupling analysis （SCA） is a statistical technique that uses evolutionary data of a protein family to measure correlation between distant functional sites and suggests allosteric communication. In proteins, very distant and small interactions between collections of amino acids provide the communication which can be important for signaling process. In this paper, we present the SCA of protein alignment of the esterase family （pfam ID： PF00756） containing the sequence of antigen 85C secreted by Mycobacterium tuberculosis to identify a subset of interacting residues. Clustering analysis of the pairwise correlation highlighted seven important residue positions in the esterase family alignments. These resi-dues were then mapped on the crystal structure of antigen 85C （PDB ID： 1DQZ）. The mapping revealed corre-lation between 3 distant residues （Asp38, Leu123 and Met125） and suggests allosteric communication between them. This information can be used for a new drug against this fatal disease.展开更多
目的:探讨联合淋巴细胞计数与C反应蛋白的比值(ratio of lymphocyte to C-reactive protein,LCR)、血小板(platelet,PLT)、癌胚抗原(carcinoembryonic antigen,CEA)检测对结直肠癌(colorectal cancer,CRC)与结直肠息肉(colorectal polyp...目的:探讨联合淋巴细胞计数与C反应蛋白的比值(ratio of lymphocyte to C-reactive protein,LCR)、血小板(platelet,PLT)、癌胚抗原(carcinoembryonic antigen,CEA)检测对结直肠癌(colorectal cancer,CRC)与结直肠息肉(colorectal polyps,CPS)的鉴别诊断及在CRC病理分期中的价值。方法:回顾性分析187例CRC患者和83例CPS患者的临床血液学资料。结果:两组间LCR、PLT、CEA差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);LCR与TNM分期、局部淋巴结转移、远处转移呈负相关(P<0.05);PLT、CEA与TNM分期、浸润深度、远处转移呈正相关(P<0.05);LCR+PLT+CEA鉴别诊断CRC的受试者工作特征曲线(receiver operating characteristic curve,ROC)下面积(area under curve,AUC)为0.779。结论:联合LCR、PLT、CEA检测对CRC与CPS的鉴别诊断具有重要价值,监测LCR、PLT、CEA对CRC的病理分期、肿瘤浸润深度、淋巴结转移和远处转移具有重要的意义,可能与CRC患者的病情发展有关。展开更多
To establish a cell line as a model system for HCV infection and propagation in vitro, a human HepG2 cell line was incubated with a HCV RNA positive serum. The sABC immunological techniques and gold-labeled colloid ...To establish a cell line as a model system for HCV infection and propagation in vitro, a human HepG2 cell line was incubated with a HCV RNA positive serum. The sABC immunological techniques and gold-labeled colloid electron microscopy method were employed to examine the viral proteins in those cells. The HCV non-structure 5 antigen was first detected in the HepG2 cells 72 h after incubation. The antigen was continuously observed in the cytoplasm as well on the membrane of the HepG2 cells even after 1. 2, 3 and 4 weeks after incubation. The observation of HCV non-struc- ture 5 antigen continuously expressed in the HepG2 cells strongly indicates that the cells may have been infected by HCV virus. Therefore, the HepG2 cell line may serve as a potential host for estab- lishment of HCV infection and propagation in vitro.展开更多
Hepatitis C virus(HCV) is the main cause of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis in Western countries. Over time, the majority of cirrhotic patients develop hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), one of the most common fatal c...Hepatitis C virus(HCV) is the main cause of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis in Western countries. Over time, the majority of cirrhotic patients develop hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), one of the most common fatal cancers worldwide- fourth for incidence rate. A high public health priority need is the development of biomarkers to screen for liver disease progression and for early diagnosis of HCC development, particularly in the high risk population represented by HCV-positive patients with cirrhosis. Several studies have shown that serological determination of a novel biomarker, squamous cell carcinoma antigen-immunoglobulins M(SCCA-Ig M), might be useful to identify patients with progressive liver disease. In the initial part of this review we summarize the main clinical studies that have investigated this new circulating biomarker on HCV-infected patients, providing evidence that in chronic hepatitis C SCCA-Ig M may be used to monitor progression of liver disease, and also to assess the virological response to antiviral treatment. In the last part of this review we address other, not less important, clinical applications of this biomarker in hepatology.展开更多
文摘To study the distribution and significance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) C33c antigen, and core antigen in human primary intrahepato-cholangiocarcinoma tissues (PIC). Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect HCV antigen and HBxAg. Results: HCV C33c antigen was present in the cytoplasm of cancer cells and hepatic cells and HCV core antigen was present mainly in the nuclei of cancerous tissues and in the cytoplasm of pericancerous liver tissues. In cancerous tissues and pericancerous tissues the positive rates of HCV C33c antigen were 60% (21/35) and 100% (21/21 ) respectively; the positive rates of HCV core antigen were 87. 8% (29/ 33 ) and 61. 9% (13/21) respectively; the positive rates of HBxAg were 74. 3% (26/35) and 76. 2% (16/21) respectively; the simultaneously positive rates of C33c and HBxAg were 48. 6% (17/35) and 76. 2% (16/21). Conclusion: Besides hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, HCV infection may play an important role in the carcinogenesis of PIC.
文摘While hepatitis B virus(HBV)screening relies on hepatitis B surface antigen to confirm HBV infection since the early days of hepatitis B disease management,hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection screening is based on anti-HCV testing which does not discriminate active from past infection.Thus to confirm infection HCV RNA testing has been required;recently a HCV core antigen assay became widely commercially available which could serve to confirm infection.That assay is less sensitive than current HCV RNA assays,but as more than 50%of anti-HCV positive persons will be HCV core antigen positive,HCV core antigen testing can be a cost effective and reflex test to confirm HCV infection in anti-HCV positive individuals and will be easier as it can be applied on the same platform.For treatment monitoring,more data need to be generated,but the early data available at present suggest that HCV core antigen may be an alternative to HCV RNA monitoring.With direct antivirals,HCV core antigen could even be superior to HCV RNA testing,as direct antivirals might already prevent virus formation when HCV core antigen is still produced and thereby correlates better with eventual viral clearance.
文摘AIM： To investigate the correlation between hepatitis B virus surface antigen （HBsAg）, hepatitis C virus （HCV） expression in hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）, the HAI score of the noncancerous region of the liver and the serum Alpha fetoprotein （AFP） level. METHODS： The patterns of HBsAg and HCV in 100 cases of HCC and their surrounding liver tissues were studied on paraffin-embedded sections with immunohistochemistry, the histological status was determined by one pathologist and one surgeon simultaneously using the hepatitis activity index （HAIl score, and AFP was detected by radioimmunity. The study included 100 consecutive patients who underwent curative resection for HCC. Based on HBsAg and HCV expression, the patients were classified into 4 groups： patients positive for HBsAg （HBsAg group）, patients positive for HCV （HCV group）, patients negative for both HCV and HBsAg （NBNC group） and patients positive for both HBsAg and HCV （BC group）. RESULTS： The BC group had significantly higher HAI scores than the other three groups. （BC 〉 HCV 〉 HBsAg 〉 NBNC）. HBV and HCV virus infection was positively correlated with HAI （rs = 0.39, P = 0.00011. The positive rate of AFP （85.7%） and the value of AFP （541.2 ng/mL） in the group with HBV and HCV co-infection were the highest among the four groups. The positive rate （53.3%） of AFP and the value of AFP （ 53.3 ng/mL） in the group with none-infection of HBV and HCV were the lowest. HBV and HCV virus infection was positively correlated with AFP（rs = 0.38, P = 0.0001）. CONCLUSION： The AFP increase in patients with liver cancer was positively correlated with the infection of HBV and HCV. The-serum AFP elevation by the infection of HBV and HCV is one of mechanisms which lead to hepatocarcinogenesis, and the antivirus intervening treatment of hepatitis is significant for the prognosis of liver cancer. From our Spearman＇s rank correlation analysis, we can conclude that the severity of virally induced inflammation is correlated with HBsAg and HCV expression in HCC tissues and noncancerous tissues. Prior co-infection of HBV in HCV patients may be an adverse risk factor for intrahepatic inflammation.
基金This work was supported by the grants from Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 00593 and 01059. 2001).
文摘OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between oval cells and primary hepatocarcinoma and the expression of c-kit and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in oval cells of rats with hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: A hundred and twenty clean SD rats were divided into three groups: normal group, cancer-induction group and intervention group. The normal group was fed with standard forage while the rest two groups were fed with 3'-methyl-2-methylamino-azobenzene (DAB) to induce carcinoma for 14 weeks and then fed with standard forage and water. Uscharidin was injected abdominally to the intervention group from the first week to the 14th week. All rats were killed and biopsy specimens were taken from the left and right liver lobes for immunohistochemical staining of c-kit and PCNA on the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, 20th, 22nd, and 24th week. RESULTS: From the 2nd to 14th week after liver infection, c-kit positive cells, mainly oval cells were found in the portal area in the carcinoma-induction group and dotted positive pigmentations in liver lobules. In the 22nd week, a large number of cancerous nodes occurred and nuclei heteromorphi-m was apparent; the number of positive cell decreased but positive cells could be sparsely observed in cancerous nodes. In the 2nd week of the carcinoma-induction process, PCNA positive cells were oval cells in the portal area. In the 4th week, a lot of hepatic cells were positively stained, especially in the central vein area. In the 6th week, PCNA positive cells could be seen in the lobules of the liver. In the 8th week, the number of PCNA cells decreased comparatively. From the 10th to 14th week, oval cells in the portal area were still over-expressed. From the 16th to 24th week, a large number of cancerous nodes occurred and PCNA was over-expressed in some of them. In necrotic cancerous nodes, the para-cancerous PCNA positive cells were sparsely distributed and their number was less than that of PCNA positive cells of cancerous tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatic stem cells originating from the terminal biliary plexus of the portal area are involved in the development of hepatocarcinoma because c-kit positive cells expressed in cancerous nodes, accompany the whole process of the development. In the middle inflammatory period of carcinoma-induction, the expression of PCNA in hepatic cells peaked, but the index decreased in the late inflammatory period and in the proliferated fibrosis stage. The expression of PCNA is a tortuous process, going up, down, then up again from normal tissues to cancerous tissues. Combined with pathological findings, PCNA can be considered as a warning index for carcinomatous cells.
文摘BACKGROUND Current diagnosis of hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection requires two sequential steps:testing for anti-HCV followed by HCV RNA PCR to confirm viremia.We have developed a highly sensitive and specific HCV-antigens enzyme immunoassay(HCV-Ags EIA)for one-step diagnosis of viremic HCV infection.AIM To assess the clinical application of the HCV-Ags EIA in one-step diagnosis of viremic HCV infection in human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)-coinfected individuals.METHODS The study blindly tested HCV-Ags EIA for its performance in one-step diagnosing viremic HCV infection in 147 sera:10 without HCV or HIV infection;54 with viremic HCV monoinfection;38 with viremic HCV/HIV coinfection;and 45 with viremic HCV and non-viremic HIV coinfection.RESULTS Upon decoding,it was 100%accordance of HCV-Ags EIA to HCV infection status by HCV RNA PCR test.In five sera with HCV infection,HCV RNA was as low as 50-59 IU/mL,and four out of five tested positive for HCV-Ags EIA.Likewise,it was also 100%accordance of HCV-Ags EIA to HCV infection status by HCV RNA PCR in 83 sera with HCV and HIV coinfection,regardless if HIV infection was active or not.CONCLUSION The modified HCV-Ags EIA has a lower detection limit equivalent to serum HCV RNA levels of approximately 100 IU/mL.It is highly sensitive and specific in the setting of HIV coinfection,regardless of HIV infection status and CD4 count.These data support the clinical application of the HCV-Ags EIA in one-step diagnosis of HCV infection in HIV-infected individuals.
文摘A fundamental goal in cellular signaling is to understand allosteric communication, the process by which sig-nals originating at one site in a protein propagate reliably to affect distant functional sites. The general principles of protein structure that underlie this process remain unknown. Statistical coupling analysis （SCA） is a statistical technique that uses evolutionary data of a protein family to measure correlation between distant functional sites and suggests allosteric communication. In proteins, very distant and small interactions between collections of amino acids provide the communication which can be important for signaling process. In this paper, we present the SCA of protein alignment of the esterase family （pfam ID： PF00756） containing the sequence of antigen 85C secreted by Mycobacterium tuberculosis to identify a subset of interacting residues. Clustering analysis of the pairwise correlation highlighted seven important residue positions in the esterase family alignments. These resi-dues were then mapped on the crystal structure of antigen 85C （PDB ID： 1DQZ）. The mapping revealed corre-lation between 3 distant residues （Asp38, Leu123 and Met125） and suggests allosteric communication between them. This information can be used for a new drug against this fatal disease.
文摘目的:探讨联合淋巴细胞计数与C反应蛋白的比值(ratio of lymphocyte to C-reactive protein,LCR)、血小板(platelet,PLT)、癌胚抗原(carcinoembryonic antigen,CEA)检测对结直肠癌(colorectal cancer,CRC)与结直肠息肉(colorectal polyps,CPS)的鉴别诊断及在CRC病理分期中的价值。方法:回顾性分析187例CRC患者和83例CPS患者的临床血液学资料。结果:两组间LCR、PLT、CEA差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);LCR与TNM分期、局部淋巴结转移、远处转移呈负相关(P<0.05);PLT、CEA与TNM分期、浸润深度、远处转移呈正相关(P<0.05);LCR+PLT+CEA鉴别诊断CRC的受试者工作特征曲线(receiver operating characteristic curve,ROC)下面积(area under curve,AUC)为0.779。结论:联合LCR、PLT、CEA检测对CRC与CPS的鉴别诊断具有重要价值,监测LCR、PLT、CEA对CRC的病理分期、肿瘤浸润深度、淋巴结转移和远处转移具有重要的意义,可能与CRC患者的病情发展有关。
基金This project was supported by a grant of the National Edu-cational Committee for return scholars (No. 95-8067)
文摘To establish a cell line as a model system for HCV infection and propagation in vitro, a human HepG2 cell line was incubated with a HCV RNA positive serum. The sABC immunological techniques and gold-labeled colloid electron microscopy method were employed to examine the viral proteins in those cells. The HCV non-structure 5 antigen was first detected in the HepG2 cells 72 h after incubation. The antigen was continuously observed in the cytoplasm as well on the membrane of the HepG2 cells even after 1. 2, 3 and 4 weeks after incubation. The observation of HCV non-struc- ture 5 antigen continuously expressed in the HepG2 cells strongly indicates that the cells may have been infected by HCV virus. Therefore, the HepG2 cell line may serve as a potential host for estab- lishment of HCV infection and propagation in vitro.
文摘Hepatitis C virus(HCV) is the main cause of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis in Western countries. Over time, the majority of cirrhotic patients develop hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), one of the most common fatal cancers worldwide- fourth for incidence rate. A high public health priority need is the development of biomarkers to screen for liver disease progression and for early diagnosis of HCC development, particularly in the high risk population represented by HCV-positive patients with cirrhosis. Several studies have shown that serological determination of a novel biomarker, squamous cell carcinoma antigen-immunoglobulins M(SCCA-Ig M), might be useful to identify patients with progressive liver disease. In the initial part of this review we summarize the main clinical studies that have investigated this new circulating biomarker on HCV-infected patients, providing evidence that in chronic hepatitis C SCCA-Ig M may be used to monitor progression of liver disease, and also to assess the virological response to antiviral treatment. In the last part of this review we address other, not less important, clinical applications of this biomarker in hepatology.
