title: [Serum anti-Ku86: a potential biomarker for early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the clinical value of serum anti-Ku86 in early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Expression levels of Ku86 protein in HCC and adjacent normal liver tissues were detected by Western blotting. Serum anti-Ku86 level in 83 patients with early HCC and 124 patients with liver cirrhosis were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Chemiluminescence was used to measure the serum level of α-fetoprotein (AFP).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Expression of Ku86 protein in HCC was increased when compared with the adjacent normal liver tissues (0.21 ± 0.05 vs. 0.08 ± 0.02, P < 0.01). Serum anti-Ku86 level was significantly elevated in HCC patients compared with that in liver cirrhosis patients (0.47 ± 0.22 vs. 0.22 ± 0.06 Abs at 450 nm, P < 0.01), but there was no significant difference between HBV infection and HCV infection in HCC patients (0.51 ± 0.19 vs. 0.47 ± 0.24, P = 0.267). Of note, serum anti-Ku86 level was significantly decreased after surgical resection of the tumors in the 30 HCC cases tested (P < 0.01). The results of ROC analysis indicated a better performance of anti-Ku86 (0.857) than AFP (0.739) for early detection of HCC. In 83 HCC patients, the positive rate of anti-Ku86 was 61.4% (51/83), significantly higher than that of the AFP positive rate (27.7%, 23/83). The anti-Ku86 level was positive in 37 of 60 HCC cases with negative AFP. Combination assay of AFP and anti-Ku86 could detect 60 of 83 HCC cases (72.3%, 60/83). There was no significant correlation of anti-Ku86 and AFP (r = 0.156, P = 0.161).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum anti-Ku86 level is significantly elevated and is not related to HBV and HCV infection in HCC patients. Serum anti-Ku86 antibody may be a potential biomarker for early detection of HCC, and can be used in combination with AFP in clinics.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Laboratory, Danyang People's Hospital, Danyang 212300, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Xiajun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guozhong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Zhongxiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Anding
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Email: zhjsyj@163.com.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D034961:Antigens, Nuclear / Q000276:immunology*; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D000072200:Ku Autoantigen; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D034961:Antigens, Nuclear; D001323:Autoantibodies; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; C000606509:Xrcc6 protein, human; D000072200:Ku Autoantigen