title: Serum KL-6 as a novel tumor marker for hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis C virus infected patients.
abstract: The up-regulation of MUC1 protein is associated with malignant phenotype of cancer. We investigated the significance of KL-6, one of the MUC1 antigens, as a tumor marker in hepatitis C virus positive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Serum KL-6 was determined in 203 patients with chronic hepatitis (CH), 47 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) and 78 patients with HCC. KL-6 was higher in HCC compared to non-HCC (p=0.0005) and was higher in patients with multiple HCC nodules compared to a single nodule (p=0.02). There was no correlation between KL-6 and existent tumor markers for HCC such as alpha-fetoprotein, lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive alpha-fetoprotein or des-gamma-carboxyprothrombin. In the prospective analysis, the cumulative incidence of HCC was significantly greater in CH and LC patients with high initial KL-6 (above 400U/ml) compared to the others (p=0.02). Moreover, in the prospective observation of 25 patients whose HCC was completely cured by radiofrequency ablation therapy, the cumulative incidence of distant recurrences was significantly greater in patients with high initial KL-6 compared to the others (p=0.005). These results suggest that serum KL-6 could be a novel tumor marker in the diagnosis and the prediction of prognosis of HCC that may have additive value to the existent markers.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Musashino Red Cross Hospital, 1-26-1 Kyonan-cho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8610, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurosaki
authors.forename: Namiki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Onuki
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuchiya
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
authors.forename: Takatoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asahina
authors.forename: Masakatsu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uchihara
authors.forename: Shozo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyake