title: A discussion of serum albumin level in advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma: a medical oncologist's perspective.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common primary malignant tumor of the liver, and it is particularly prevalent in East and Southeast Asia. With surgical and/or local interventional treatment methods, survival rates for early-stage hepatocellular cancers have increased. However, it is not yet clear which staging systems are more applicable in hepatocellular carcinoma. Serum albumin level is already being used as a criterion in most staging systems. Albumin is an important serum protein in human bodily functions, but only 5 % of the daily amount needed is synthesized by the liver. The serum albumin level is affected by multifactorial situations, including capillary permeability, drugs, liver insufficiency, inflammation and/or infections, dehydration or overhydration, protein loosing disorders, and decreased nutrition intake in anorexia-malnutrition syndrome and cancer cachexia. Because of this complex situation, serum albumin level may affect many staging systems for hepatocellular carcinoma by leading to false-negative results. In this paper, the statuses of current staging systems are reviewed, and possible negative events regarding the serum albumin levels found in these staging systems are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Sitki Kocman University, Mugla, Turkey, mugla.medicaloncology@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ozgur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tanriverdi
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000379:methods*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D010820:Physicians; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012709:Serum Albumin