Can Glypican3 be diagnostic for early hepatocellular carcinoma among Egyptian patients?
BACKGROUND
Because of the high prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Egypt, new markers with better diagnostic performance than alpha-feto protein (AFP) are needed to help in early diagnosis. The aim of this work was to compare the clinical utility of both serum and mRNA glypican3 (GPC3) as probable diagnostic markers for HCC among Egyptian patients.


METHODS
A total of 60 subjects, including 40 with HCC, 10 with cirrhosis and 10 normal controls were analyzed for serum GPC3 (sGPC3) by ELISA. GPC-3 mRNA from circulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells was amplified by RT-PCR. Both markers were compared to some prognostic factors of HCC, and sensitivity of both techniques was compared.


RESULTS
Serum glypican-3 and AFP were significantly higher in the HCC group compared to cirrhotic and normal controls (p<0.001). Sensitivity and specificity were (95% each) for sGlypican-3, (82.5% and 85%) for AFP, and (100% and 90%) for Glypican3 mRNA , and (80% and 95%) for double combination between sGPC3 and AFP respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Both serum GPC-3 and GPC-3mRNA are promising diagnostic markers for early detection of HCC in Egyptian patients. RT- PCR proved to be more sensitive (100%) than ELISA (95%) in detecting glypican3.
Department of Clinical and Chemical Pathology, NCI, Cairo University, Egypt E-mail : imanaga70@yahoo.com.
Iman Attia
IA
Abdelgawad
Ghada Ibrahim
GI
Mossallam
Noha Hassan
NH
Radwan
Heba Mohammed
HM
Elzawahry
Niveen Mostafa
NM
Elhifnawy
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004534:Egypt; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D053673:Glypicans / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D012372:ROC Curve; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D053673:Glypicans; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins