title: Evaluation of serum clusterin as a surveillance tool for human hepatocellular carcinoma with hepatitis B virus related cirrhosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common human cancer worldwide. The levels of serum clusterin in HCC patients and its potential diagnostic significance is not clear. We aimed to evaluate the clinical use of serum clusterin levels as a surveillance tool for HCC with hepatitis B virus (HBV) related cirrhosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-two cases of healthy subjects, 31 cases of HBV carriers, 26 patients with chronic hepatitis B, 29 patients with cirrhosis, and 76 patients with HCC were enrolled in this study. Serum levels of clusterin were measured by a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The serum clusterin levels in HCC patients were significantly lower than that in healthy, HBV carriers and chronic hepatitis B, but statistically higher than in cirrhosis patients. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve indicated that a serum clusterin value of 50 microg/mL yielded the best sensitivity (91%) and specificity (83%) for differentiating HCC patients with HBV-related cirrhosis from those with HBV-related cirrhosis. The optimal alpha fetoprotein (AFP) cutoff value was 15 ng/mL and was inferior to the clusterin value of 50 microg/mL, the area under the ROC curves being 0.937 versus 0.781, respectively (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum clusterin was more sensitive and specific than serum AFP for differentiating HCC patients with HBV-related cirrhosis from those with HBV-related liver cirrhosis, and may be a useful surveillance tool of HCC based on HBV-related cirrhosis.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yan-Hui
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shi-Juan
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Mai
authors.forename: Long-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Yi-Ji
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Hai-Xia
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Xin-Yuan
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Yi-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Hsiang-Fu
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Kung
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D051152:Clusterin / Q000097:blood*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051152:Clusterin; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins