Predictive value of tumor markers in patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma in different vascular invasion pattern

BACKGROUND： Four tumor markers for hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC）, alpha-fetoprotein（AFP）, glypican-3（GPC3）, vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF） and des-gammacarboxy prothrombin（DCP）, are closely associated with tumor invasion and patient＇s survival. This study estimated the predictability of preoperative tumor marker levels along with pathological parameters on HCC recurrence after hepatectomy.METHODS： A total of 140 patients with HCC who underwent hepatectomy between January 2012 and August 2012 were enrolled. The demographics, clinical and follow-up data were collected and analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups： patients with macroscopic vascular invasion（Ma VI ＋） and those without Ma VI（Ma VI-）. The predictive value of tumor markers and clinical parameters were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis.RESULTS： In all patients, tumor size（〉8 cm） and Ma VI were closely related to HCC recurrence after hepatectomy. For Ma VI＋ patients, VEGF（〉900 pg/m L） was a significant predictor for recurrence（RR=2.421; 95% CI： 1.272-4.606; P=0.007）. The 1- and 2-year tumor-free survival rates for Ma VI＋ patients with VEGF ≤900 pg/m L versus for those with VEGF 〉900 pg/m L were 51.5% and 17.6% versus 19.0% and 4.8%（P〈0.001）. For Ma VI- patients, DCP 〉445 m Au/m L and tumor size 〉8 cm were two independent risk factors for tumor recurrence（RR=2.307, 95% CI： 1.132-4.703, P=0.021; RR=3.150, 95% CI： 1.392-7.127, P=0.006; respectively）. The 1- and 2-year tumor-free survival rates for the patients with DCP ≤445 m Au/m L and those with DCP 〉445 m Au/m L were 90.4% and 70.7% versus 73.2% and 50.5% respectively（P=0.048）. The 1-and 2-year tumor-free survival rates for the patients with tumor size ≤8 cm and 〉8 cm were 83.2% and 62.1% versus 50.0% and 30.0%, respectively（P=0.003）.CONCLUSIONS： The Ma VI＋ patients with VEGF ≤900 pg/m L had a relatively high tumor-free survival than those with VEGF 〉900 pg/m L. In the Ma VI- patients, DCP 〉445 m Au/m L and tumor size 〉8 cm were predictive factors for postoperative recurrence.

sFRP-4, a potential novel serum marker for chronic hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND：The current methods used for diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC）are unsatisfactory.Here,we assessed the serum levels of secreted frizzled related protein 4（s FRP-4）for diagnosing HCC in patients infected with chronic hepatitis B（CHB）.METHODS：In 272 patients with CHB enrolled,142 were pa tients with HCC.Thirty-three healthy subjects were recruited as healthy controls.The CHB patients were assigned to a test group or a validation group based on the time of enrollment. Human antibody arrays were used to screen 15 patients （8 CHB-related HCC patients, 7 CHB patients） for serum mark- ers. Four markers and one candidate marker were assessed in the test group and validation group, respectively. RESULTS： Human antibody assays indicated that the serum levels of sFRP-4 in HCC patients were significantly higher than those in CHB patients （P〈0,05）. Additionally, serum sFRP-4 levels were significantly higher in the HCC patients than those in the non-HCC patients in both test group （79.7 vs 41.3 ng/mL; P〈0.001） and validation group （89.0 vs 39.0 ng/mL; P〈0.001）. Areas under the Receiver Operating Charac- teristic curves （AUCs） for alpha-fetoprotein （AFP） and sFRP-4 were similar in both test group and validation group. In the test group, the combination of sFRP-4 （a sensitivity of 94.4%, a specificity of 60.5% at 46.4 ng/mL） and AFP （a sensitivity of 75.0%, a specificity of 87.2% at 11.3 ng/mL） showed better performance for diagnosing HCC （a sensitivity of 79.2% and a specificity of 95.3%）. The AUC for combined sFRP-4 and AFP increased to 0.941 （95% CI： 0.908-0.975）, and similar results were seen in the validation group. CONCLUSION： sFRP-4 is a candidate serum marker for diagnosing HCC in CHB patients, and the combination of sFRP-4 with AFP may improve the diagnostic accuracy of HCC.

Efficacy of Early Treatment on 52 Patients with Preneoplastic Hepatitis B Virus-Associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Compound Phyllanthus Urinaria L.

Objective:To observe the change in the number of antibodies of preneoplastic hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) using early treatment by Compound Phyllanthus Urinaria L.(CPUL) on patients with preneoplastic hepatitis B virus(HBV)-associated HCC.Methods:A total of 102 cirrhosis patients with regenerative or dysplastic nodules whose sera were tested positive for at least one of these six proteins(five up-regulated genes URG4,URG7,URG11,URG12 and URG19,and one down-regulated gene DRG2) were assigned randomly to two groups using continual random codes by SPSS software.Fifty-two patients were in the treatment group and 50 patients were in the control group.CPUL was used in the treatment group for 3 years,while the control group did not receive any treatment.The changes in HBV-DNA level,number of antibodies,and hepatocarcinogenesis occurred were observed.Patients who did not develop HCC were followed up for another 2 years.Results:HBV-DNA levels decreased >2log in 22.2%(10/45) of patients in the treatment group in contrast to only 5.0%(2/40) of patients in the control group(P=0.0228).The number of antibodies that were tested positive in the treatment group(1.08± 1.01)was significantly lower compared with the control group(2.11 ±1.12) after 24 months of drug treatment(P<0.01).Both the positive rates of anti-URG11(33/52) and anti-URG19(31/52) were over 60%at baseline in the two groups,and were decreased to 48.1%(25/52) and 46.2%(24/52) respectively at 36 months of drug treatment,while the rates increased to 68.0%(34/50) and 66.0%(33/50) respectively(P=0.0417,P=0.0436) in the control group.The positive rate of anti-DRG2 was increased to 55.8%(29/52) at 36 months of drug treatment,while in the control group was decreased to 36.0%(18/50,P=0.0452).Among the 102 patients who developed HCC,2 were in the treatment group and 9 were in the control group,meaning that a significant difference between the two groups(P=0.0212).In11 patients who developed HCC,anti-URG11 and anti-URG19 were always positive,while anti-DRG2 was negative.Patients newly developing HCC were 6(20.0%) in the control group,and only one(2.5%) in the treatment group(P=0.0441) during 2-year follow-up after the end of the treatment.Conclusions:Anti-URG11,anti-URG19 and antiDRG2 could be used as early markers in the prediction of the therapeutic efficacy of CPUL in treating preneoplastic HCC.CPUL is useful in preventing or delaying the development of HBV-associated cirrhosis to HCC.