title: Reevaluation of glypican-3 as a serological marker for hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Glypican-3 (GPC3) is a novel histochemical marker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its utility as a serologic marker for HCC is not conclusive.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1037 subjects, including 155 patients with HCC, 180 with chronic hepatitis, 124 with liver cirrhosis, 442 with non-HCC cancer and 136 healthy controls, were analyzed for serum GPC3 (sGPC3) by an ELISA constructed with 2 monoclonal antibodies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average level of sGPC3 in HCC patients was 99.94±267.2ng/ml, which was significantly higher than in patients with chronic hepatitis (10.45±46.02ng/ml, P<0.0001), liver cirrhosis (19.44±50.88ng/ml, P=0.0013), non-HCC cancer (20.50±98.33ng/ml, P<0.0001) and healthy controls (4.14±31.65ng/ml, P<0.0001). The sensitivity of sGPC3 in HCC diagnosis was 40.0%, whereas the specificity was 98.5%, 94.4% and 87.1% in healthy controls, chronic hepatitis patients and liver cirrhosis patients, respectively. In addition, 13.5% (28/207) of lung cancer patients and 13.2% (9/68) of thyroid cancer patients had positive results with sGPC3.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum GPC3 is a potential marker for HCC. However, the presence of sGPC3 in patients with lung cancer and thyroid cancer might limit its application as a single marker in the diagnosis of HCC.
authors: Department of Molecular Diagnostics, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Renji Hospital,Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, 2200-25 Xietu Road, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors: Min
authors: M
authors: Chen
authors: Guohua
authors: G
authors: Li
authors: Jian
authors: J
authors: Yan
authors: Xiuzhi
authors: X
authors: Lu
authors: Jianwei
authors: J
authors: Cui
authors: Zhengxian
authors: Z
authors: Ni
authors: Weizhong
authors: W
authors: Cheng
authors: Gengsun
authors: G
authors: Qian
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Zhang
authors: Hong
authors: H
authors: Tu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D053673:Glypicans / Q000097:blood*; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood; D012015:Reference Standards; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D053673:Glypicans