Alpha-fetoprotein-producing gastric cancer.
We measured the sero-positivity rate of serum alpha-fetoprotein (alphaFP) of gastric cancer patients by ELISA assay; forty-two curatively resected patients, 14 palliatively resected patients, 8 who received explo-laparotomy or bypass surgery and 18 patients with systemic metastasis. The sero-positive rate was 9.8% (8/82) and the positivity increased with cancer progression. Sex, age and pathological type were similar between alphaFP-positive and -negative patients. The overall synchronous hepatic metastasis rates in alphaFP-positive and alphaFP-negative groups were 37.5% (3/8) and 12.2% (9/74), respectively (p=0.08). The predictability of synchronous liver metastasis in eight alphaFP-positive patients were as follows: 37. 5% of total patients (3/8), 50.0% (3/6) of unresectable patients, and 60.0% (3/5) of patients with systemic metastasis. In three alphaFP-positive patient with liver metastasis, all the hepatic lesions were intrahepatic and multiple, while in alphaFP-negative patients, 67% (6/9) of the hepatic lesions was single intrahepatic lesion or surface nodule. The predictability of both synchronous and metachronous liver metastasis in alphaFP-positive gastric cancer patients was 75%. These findings suggested that, in advanced stomach cancer patients, especially in stage IV, alphaFP can be used in predicting liver metastasis during follow-up.
Lee
R
R
Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Rha
S Y
SY
Ahn
J B
JB
Shim
K Y
KY
Choi
J H
JH
Lim
H Y
HY
Yoo
N C
NC
Noh
S H
SH
Kim
J H
JH
Roh
J K
JK
Min
J S
JS
Kim
B S
BS
Chung
H C
HC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D010166:Palliative Care; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000096:biosynthesis
D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins