title: Serum talin-1 is a potential novel biomarker for diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in Egyptian patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major cause of cancer mortality worldwide. The outcome of HCC depends mainly on its early diagnosis. To date, the performance of traditional biomarkers is unsatisfactory. Talins were firstly identified as cytoplasmic protein partners of integrins but Talin-1 appears to play a crucial role in cancer formation and progression. Our study was conducted to assess the diagnostic value of serum Talin-1 (TLN1) compared to the most feasible traditional biomarker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) for the diagnosis of HCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  TLN1 was detected using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in serum samples from 120 Egyptian subjects including 40 with HCC, 40 with liver cirrhosis (LC) and 40 healthy controls (HC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  ROC curve analysis was used to create a predictive model for TLN1 relative to AFP in HCC diagnosis. Serum levels of TLN1 in hepatocellular carcinoma patients were significantly higher compared to the other groups (p<0.0001). The diagnostic accuracy of TLN1 was higher than that of AFP regarding sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value in diagnosis of HCC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study showed for the first time that Talin-1 (TLN1) is a potential diagnostic marker for HCC, with a higher sensitivity and specificity compared to the traditional biomarker AFP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Helwan University, Ain Helwan, Egypt. dr.mahmoudyouns@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Mahmoud M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Youns
authors.forename: Abdel Hady A
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Abdel Wahab
authors.forename: Zeinab A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: Mohamed S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Attia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001786:Blood Glucose; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004534:Egypt; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D016608:Talin / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D001786:Blood Glucose; C518832:TLN1 protein, human; D016608:Talin