Clinical significance of serum cytokeratin-19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1) in hepatocellular carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
CYFRA 21-1, a soluble fragment of cytokeratin 19, is increased in serum in some patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, but the clinical significance of this increase is still unknown.


METHODS
Serum concentrations of CYFRA 21-1 were measured in 240 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma prior to hepatic resection. The relationships between serum CYFRA 21-1 concentrations and clinicopathologic features were analyzed.


RESULTS
The sensitivity of CYFRA 21-1 as a test for hepatocellular carcinoma was 18.8%. Serum CYFRA 21-1 was significantly higher in patients with portal vein tumor thrombus, and serum CYFRA 21-1 increased with the progression of portal vein tumor thrombus. Tumor size was related to serum CYFRA 21-1, but there were no significant correlations between serum CYFRA 21-1 concentrations and tumor differentiation or number of tumors. Although patients with stage IV tumor had significantly higher CYFRA 21-1 concentrations than those with stages I, II, and III, CYFRA 21-1 was not associated with postoperative prognosis.


CONCLUSIONS
Although high concentrations of CYFRA 21-1 were often detected in patients with a tumor diameter greater than 5 cm or tumor thrombus in the major portal vein, CYFRA 21-1 is not a useful diagnostic tool for hepatocellular carcinoma because of its low sensitivity.
Uenishi
Takahiro
T
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, 545-8585, Japan.
Yamazaki
Osamu
O
Yamamoto
Takatsugu
T
Hirohashi
Kazuhiro
K
Tanaka
Hiromu
H
Tanaka
Shogo
S
Hai
Seikan
S
Ono
Koichi
K
Kubo
Shoji
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053539:Keratin-19; D007633:Keratins / Q000097:blood*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D053539:Keratin-19; C102012:antigen CYFRA21.1; D007633:Keratins