Usefulness of measurement of Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein as a marker of prognosis and recurrence of small hepatocellular carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-L3%) is a recently described marker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and its usefulness has been demonstrated in many studies. We evaluated the usefulness of serial measurement of AFP-L3% as a marker of prognosis and recurrence after treatment of small HCC.


METHODS
AFP-L3% was measured before and after initial treatment in 60 patients with small HCC (maximum diameter < or = 2 cm). AFP-L3% was taken as the ratio of AFP-L3 to total AFP and multiplied by 100%, and levels > or = 10% were considered positive. Outcomes and recurrence were compared between patients AFP-L3%-negative after initial treatment (Group A, n = 43) and patients who were AFP-L3%-positive after initial treatment (Group B, n = 17).


RESULTS
Before treatment, AFP-L3% was positive in 14 (23.3%) of the 60 patients. The cumulative survival rate of Group A was significantly longer (p = 0.0091) than that of Group B. The recurrence rate was significantly higher in Group B (p = 0.0104) than in Group A. When recurrence was limited to intrahepatic metastasis, the recurrence rate was significantly higher in Group B (p = 0.0064). However, the recurrence rate of multicentric occurrence did not differ significantly between Groups A and B.


CONCLUSIONS
Measurement of AFP-L3% after treatment may be useful for understanding prognosis and recurrence of HCC.
Hayashi
K
K
Department of Gastroenterology, Ogaki Municipal Hospital, Gifu, Japan.
Kumada
T
T
Nakano
S
S
Takeda
I
I
Sugiyama
K
K
Kiriyama
S
S
Sone
Y
Y
Miyata
A
A
Shimizu
H
H
Satomura
S
S
D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary*; D007887:Fabaceae; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis*; D037121:Plant Lectins; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis*
D037102:Lectins; D037121:Plant Lectins; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; C033619:lentil lectin