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The Diagnostic Value of Tumor Biomarkers for Detecting Hepatocellular Carcinoma Accompanied by Portal Vein Tumor Thrombosis

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Abstract

Tumor biomarkers commonly used for the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) complicated with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) do not show satisfactory sensitivity and specificity. This study assesses the diagnostic value of the tumor biomarkers for the diagnosis of HCC with PVTT. A retrospective study was conducted on 475 patients diagnosed as HCC with PVTT and 977 patients diagnosed with HCC by imaging and requiring surgery at our hospital from January 1993 to January 2011. Serum alpha-fetoprotein AFP, carcinoembryonic antigen, and cancer antigen 125 (Ca125) of the patients were studied. No significant differences were observed in the patients’ general characteristics. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that the cut-off of AFP and Ca125 was 32.91 ng/ml and 113.65 U/ml, respectively (AUC = 0.814 and 0.783). The parallel testing with AFP and Ca125 has a sensitivity of 0.909 and a specificity of 0.410; the serial testing has a sensitivity of 0.520 and a specificity of 0.97. The condition of AFP ≥ 20,000 ng/ml can detect HCC with PVTT with a sensitivity of 0.24, a specificity of 0.96, and an accuracy of 0.73 and positive screening of 0.76. The standard of both AFP > 32.91 ng/ml and Ca125 > 113.65 U/ml or AFP ≥ 20,000 ng/ml can detect HCC with PVTT with a specificity of 0.97 and 0.96, respectively, providing important guidance for clinical practice.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (2012BI06B01) and the National S&T Major Project for Infectious Diseases of China (2012ZX10002-017).

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Authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Digital Hepatobiliary Surgery of Chinese PLA, Institute & Hospital of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Chinese PLA Medical School, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China

    Yang Liu, Xianqiang Wang, Kai Jiang, Wenzhi Zhang & Jiahong Dong

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  1. Yang Liu
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  2. Xianqiang Wang
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  3. Kai Jiang
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  4. Wenzhi Zhang
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  5. Jiahong Dong
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Correspondence to Kai Jiang or Jiahong Dong.

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Liu, Y., Wang, X., Jiang, K. et al. The Diagnostic Value of Tumor Biomarkers for Detecting Hepatocellular Carcinoma Accompanied by Portal Vein Tumor Thrombosis. Cell Biochem Biophys 69, 455–459 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-014-9817-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-014-9817-7

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