Measurement of human intercellular adhesion molecule 1 in the blood is useful for predicting the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinomas from chronic hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis.
OBJECTIVE
We measured the concentrations of serum intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1) in patients with C-viral chronic liver diseases and started prospective studies immediately thereafter, in order to determine whether the concentration of sICAM-1 is useful for predicting the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following C-viral chronic hepatitis (CH) and liver cirrhosis (LC).


METHODS
We studied 74 patients with CH, 18 with LC, and 28 patients with HCC who visited our institute from 1993 through 1996. All were positive for hepatitis C virus RNA in the blood. The concentrations of sICAM-1 were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. The expression of ICAM-1 in the liver was detected by indirect immunoperoxidase staining.


RESULTS
The concentrations of sICAM-1 were significantly higher in patients with LC and HCC than in patients with CH. The sICAM-1 concentrations were high in patients whose platelet counts were low. ICAM-1 in the liver was localized to the endoplasmic reticulum or the membrane of cancer cells. The cumulative rate of occurrence of HCC from CH or LC was significantly higher in the high-sICAM-1 group (>400 ng/ml) than in the low-sICAM-1 group. Multivariate analysis revealed that elevation of the sICAM-1 concentration is a significant risk factor for the occurrence of HCC.


CONCLUSIONS
Evaluation of the sICAM-1 concentration is useful for prediction of the occurrence of HCC in patients with C-viral CH or LC.
Moriyama
Mitsuhiko
M
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. moriyama@med.nihon-u.ac.jp
Matsumura
Hiroshi
H
Shioda
Jiro
J
Aoki
Hiroshi
H
Nakamura
Hitomi
H
Arakawa
Yasuo
Y
Nirei
Kazushige
K
Yamagami
Hiroaki
H
Kaneko
Miki
M
Tanaka
Naohide
N
Arakawa
Yasuyuki
Y
D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000737:chemistry / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry; D018450:Disease Progression; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000737:chemistry; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010976:Platelet Count; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D012307:Risk Factors
D015415:Biomarkers; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012367:RNA, Viral; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1