Highly sensitive Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive α-fetoprotein: a new tool for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
The highly sensitive Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive α-fetoprotein (hs-AFP-L3), measured using a newly developed method involving microfluidics-based separation technology, was evaluated as a new tool for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in clinical practice.


METHODS
The sensitivity and specificity of hs-AFP-L3 for the diagnosis of HCC and its ability to predict the outcome of patients with HCC were analyzed based on reported studies.


RESULTS
Compared to AFP-L3 measured using conventional methods, the sensitivity of hs-AFP-L3 was markedly higher and the specificity was comparable. In all studies, multivariate analysis found that elevation of hs-AFP-L3 was an independent factor that affected patient survival.


CONCLUSIONS
The use of hs-AFP-L3 improves the true positive rate of patients with HCC at diagnosis, maintaining the high specificity of AFP-L3 and its indicative value for poor prognosis. The utility of this tumor marker for prediction of the development of HCC in high-risk patients under surveillance needs to be investigated.
Department of Gastroenterology, Ogaki Municipal Hospital, Ogaki, Gifu, Japan.
Hidenori
H
Toyoda
Takashi
T
Kumada
Toshifumi
T
Tada
D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D037121:Plant Lectins; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D037121:Plant Lectins; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; C033619:lentil lectin