title: Relation between serum levels of cell-free DNA and inflammation status in hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Our study revealed that the level of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is increased in the serum of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To gain insight into the mechanism underlying this phenomenon, we examined the association between cfDNA levels and various clinicopathological factors in 96 patients with HCV-related HCC and 99 non-HCC patients with HCV. Using pooled DNA microarray data, we profiled the expression patterns of inflammatory cytokine genes in 14 primary tumors from the group of HCC patients. We found that there were positive associations between the cfDNA level, aspartate aminotransferase levels and the number of leukocytes and neutrophils in patients with HCV-related HCC but not in non-HCC patients with HCV. The serum cfDNA level was not associated with other clinicopathological factors in HCC or non-HCC patients. A cluster analysis based on the inflammatory cytokine gene data revealed that HCCs with a high serum cfDNA level had increased levels of several inflammatory cytokine genes, suggesting that the serum cfDNA level is associated with the inflammatory status in primary tumors in HCV-related HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Michihisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iizuka
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sakaida
authors.forename: Toyoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moribe
authors.forename: Nozomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tamatsukuri
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishitsuka
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Shuji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Terai
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tokuhisa
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamesa
authors.forename: Takanobu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hamamoto
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oka
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics*; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D012333:RNA, Messenger