title: Evaluation of cytokeratin-1 in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study was undertaken to investigate whether serum cytokeratin-1 (CK1) could complement alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) to improve the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  CK1 was identified using western blot and ELISA in serum samples from 250 Egyptian patients including 150 with HCC, 100 with liver cirrhosis (LC) and 50 healthy controls. Multivariate discriminant analysis (MDA) and ROC curve analyses were used to create a predictive model including CK1 in addition to a panel of routine blood markers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CK1 was identified at 67 kDa and quantified in sera of HCC patients using western blot and ELISA. MDA selected a score for the prediction of HCC from LC patients based on levels of CK1, albumin and AFP. An area under the ROC curves (AUC) of the score was 0.87. The score showed a sensitivity of 87% vs 39% sensitivity of AFP at cutoff value of 200 IU/ml for prediction HCC. Absolute specificity (100%) was obtained to discriminate HCC from healthy individuals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that the use of a combination of score including CK1, AFP and albumin in clinical practice provides a non invasive and simple test that could increase significantly the sensitivity of HCC diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: R & D Dept., Biotechnology Research Center, New Damietta City, Egypt. amattallah@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Abdelfattah M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Attallah
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El-Far
authors.forename: Camelia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Abdel Malak
authors.forename: Faten
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zahran
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Farid
authors.forename: Mohamed M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Omran
authors.forename: Hayat
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zagloul
authors.forename: Mohamed S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: El-Deen
mesh_terms: D015153:Blotting, Western; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012372:ROC Curve
chemical_list: D007633:Keratins