Semin Liver Dis 2006; 26(4): 385-390
DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-951606
Copyright © 2006 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Serum Markers of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

H.C. Spangenberg1 , R. Thimme1 , H.E. Blum1
  • 1Department of Medicine II, University Hospital, Freiburg, Germany
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Publikationsverlauf

Publikationsdatum:
18. Oktober 2006 (online)

ABSTRACT

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in some areas of the world with increasing incidence worldwide. Most of patients with HCC are diagnosed at a late stage. Therefore, the prognosis of HCC patients is generally very poor with a 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. Screening strategies including α-fetoprotein (AFP) and ultrasound every 6 months in patients with liver cirrhosis, the major risk factor for HCC development, have been recommended to detect HCC at earlier stages amenable to effective treatment strategies. AFP, however, is a marker with poor sensitivity and specificity and the ultrasound is highly dependent on the operator's experience. Apart from AFP, lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive AFP and des-gamma carboxyprothrombin and several other biomarkers (e.g., glypican-3, human hepatocyte growth factor, and insulin-like growth factor) have been proposed as markers for HCC detection. In addition, with recently employed techniques, such as gene-expressing microarrays and proteomics, it is to be expected that new HCC-specific markers will become available in the near future. For all such proposed markers, however, the clinical usefulness has to be carefully evaluated and validated.

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P.D. Dr. H.C. Spangenberg

Department of Medicine II, University Hospital

Hugstetter Strasse 55, D-79106 Freiburg, Germany