title: Plasma proteosome level as a potential marker for hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a fatal malignancy. Effective curative surgery is achieved when HCC is detected earlier. Proteosomes, the main non-lysosomal proteolytic structures organising the cellular mechanisms of cleaving proteins, can be considered a tumour marker in many kinds of malignancies. The aim of this study was to assess the plasma proteosome level in HCC and cirrhosis and, accordingly, evaluate its potential diagnostic ability in the detection of HCC in cirrhosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included 60 patients, divided into two groups: the HCC group and the liver cirrhosis group. Twenty normal subjects served as a control group. Serum levels of proteosome and alpha-foetoprotein (AFP) were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma proteosome levels were significantly higher in patients with HCC and in patients with cirrhosis without HCC when compared to controls individually (p>0.002 and p>0.001, respectively) but did not reach a significant differentiating level between them (area under curve (AUC)=0.641, p=0.061). Moreover, the plasma proteosome level was not correlated with the severity of HCC by the Milan criteria or with AFP level. In addition, it was not significantly related to laboratory or Child-Pugh scoring. Moreover, the combined use of plasma proteosome level and AFP measurements for the diagnosis of HCC was not effective.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, the plasma proteosome level was comparably recorded in both patients with cirrhosis and patients with HCC (mean value±standard deviation were 5.796±1.46 and 7.176±2.48μgml(-1), respectively), not reaching a significant differentiating level between them, although predictability of HCC using the plasma proteosome level was significant (p=0.017).
authors.affiliation: Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Hosni M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Salama
authors.forename: Hanan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abdel-Haleem
authors.forename: Fatma M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Taha
authors.forename: Rasha A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Abdel-Azeez
authors.forename: Raghda N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Marzaban
authors.forename: Saeed M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: El-Nahaas
authors.forename: Tarneem
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Darwish
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019540:Area Under Curve; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex / Q000097:blood*; D012372:ROC Curve; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex
keywords: AFP; HCC; Proteosome