Prognostic significance of Lens culinaris agglutinin A-reactive alpha-fetoprotein in small hepatocellular carcinomas.
OBJECTIVE
Lens culinaris agglutinin A-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-L3) has been reported to be a useful marker in the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of AFP-L3 for HCC.


METHODS
Fifty-five patients with HCC whose AFP-L3 levels were negative before initial therapy were studied. AFP-L3 levels were measured by lectin-affinity electrophoresis coupled with antibody-affinity blotting.


RESULTS
Of the 55 patients, 28, 15, and 12 underwent percutaneous ethanol injection, transcatheter arterial embolization, and hepatectomy, respectively. Thirty-two (58.2%) of the 55 patients maintained a negative AFP-L3 status during the study, and 23 patients (41.8%) became positive for AFP-L3 during posttreatment observation. Multiple recurrences of HCC and portal vein tumor thrombus were observed significantly more often in patients with positive AFP-L3 than in those with negative AFP-L3 status (P < 0.0001). In contrast, most patients with negative AFP-L3 had solitary recurrences of HCC without portal vein tumor thrombus. Overall survival was significantly lower in patients with positive AFP-L3 than in those with negative AFP-L3 status (P = 0.0006). Cox's proportional hazards model identified that AFP-L3 was an independent prognostic factor (P = 0.0005).


CONCLUSIONS
AFP-L3 seems to be a significant marker of poor prognosis for HCC.
Yamashita
F
F
Department of Medicine, Saga Social Insurance Hospital, Japan.
Tanaka
M
M
Satomura
S
S
Tanikawa
K
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D037121:Plant Lectins; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis*
D037102:Lectins; D037121:Plant Lectins; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; C033619:lentil lectin