title: Glypican-3 is useful but not superior to Hep Par 1 in differentiating hepatocellular carcinoma from other liver tumours.
abstract: To assess the diagnostic utility of glypican-3 (GPC-3) in comparison to Hep Par 1 in the diagnosis of liver tumours, a cross-sectional study involving 66 resected liver tumours were tested for the protein expression of these markers by immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibodies. Of the 66 cases, 26 (39.4%) were hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 4 (6.1%) were intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and 36 (54.5%) were metastatic tumours. Hep Par 1 and GPC-3 expressions in HCC were 24/26 (92.3%) and 19/26 (73.1%) respectively. In contrast, of non-HCC cases, only 2/40 cases (5.0%) expressed Hep Par 1, including a metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma and a metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma. GPC-3 was expressed in 3/40 cases (7.5%), i.e. a metastatic adenocarcinoma of unknown origin, a metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma and an intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. The sensitivity and specificity for Hep Par 1 were 92.3% and 95% respectively while that of GPC-3 was 73.1% and 92.5% respectively. GPC-3 is a useful marker in the diagnosis of HCC. However it is not superior to Hep Par 1 in its sensitivity and specificity. We recommend that it is utilized together with Hep Par 1 as a panel in the diagnosis of HCC.
authors.affiliation: UKM Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. noraidah@ppukm.ukm.edu.my.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pour
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Masir
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Rose
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018281:Cholangiocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D053673:Glypicans / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C105937:GPC3 protein, human; D053673:Glypicans; C000600022:HepPar-1 protein, human