Validation of a serum microRNA panel as biomarkers for early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma post-hepatitis C infection in Egyptian patients

Abstract Background Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer and the second most frequent cause of cancer-related death globally. Early stages of hepatocellular carcinoma (0&A) can be treated with curative procedures. The aim of this work was to evaluate the role of annexin A2 and osteopontin for early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis C virus patients. Methods The study was carried out on 80 patients classified into two groups. Group A had 40 chronic hepatitis C patients without hepatocellular carcinoma, while group B had 40 chronic hepatitis C patients with early hepatocellular carcinoma (stages; 0&A). All patients were subjected to thorough history taking, clinical examination, liver function tests, renal function tests, serum alpha-fetoprotein, serum osteopontin, and serum annexin A2. Results Serum alpha-fetoprotein was found to be statistically significantly higher in patients with the hepatocellular carcinoma group than the chronic hepatitis C group. The ROC curve for alpha-fetoprotein for detection of HCC was significant, its diagnostic performance was 0.818* (p < 0.001*), and the cutoff point for predicting the probability for HCC was 6.0 (ng/ml) with sensitivity of 77.50%, specificity of 82.50%, positive predictive value of 81.60%, negative predictive value of 78.6%, and accuracy of 80%. Serum osteopontin was found to be statistically significantly higher in patients from the hepatocellular carcinoma group than the chronic hepatitis C group. The ROC curve for osteopontin was significant, its diagnostic performance was 0.739* (p < 0.001*), the cutoff point was 13.2 (ng/ml) with sensitivity of 65.0%, specificity of 90.0%, positive predictive value of 86.70%, negative predictive value of 72.0%, and accuracy of 77.0%. Serum annexin A2 was found to be statistically significantly higher in patients from the hepatocellular carcinoma group than the chronic hepatitis C group. The ROC curve for annexin A2 was significant, its diagnostic performance was 0.927* (p < 0.001*), the cutoff point was 10.1(ng/ml) with sensitivity of 85.0%, specificity of 85.0%, positive predictive value of 85.0%, negative predictive value of 85.0%, and accuracy of 85.0%. Conclusions Osteopontin had better specificity but lower sensitivity than serum alpha-fetoprotein for early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. Annexin A2 had better diagnostic sensitivity and specificity than alpha-fetoprotein for early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

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Evaluation of serum alpha fetoprotein-L3 as an accuracy novel biomarker for the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in Egyptian Patients

Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences ◽

10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.06.020 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hassnaa Mohamed Ibrahim ◽

Magdy Zaki Elghannam ◽

Om Ali Yousef Elkhawaga ◽

Ahmed Mohamed Adel El-Sokkary

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Early Diagnosis ◽

Alpha Fetoprotein ◽

Egyptian Patients ◽

Serum Alpha Fetoprotein

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The expression of microRNA-331-3p and microRNA-23b3 in Egyptian patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis C-related liver cirrhosis

Egyptian Liver Journal ◽

10.1186/s43066-021-00122-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Reham A. Aboelwafa ◽

Walid Ismail Ellakany ◽

Marwa A. Gamaleldin ◽

Marwa A. Saad

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Liver Cirrhosis ◽

Hepatitis C ◽

Early Stage ◽

Group Iii ◽

Real Time Quantitative Pcr ◽

Early Stages ◽

Group I ◽

Egyptian Patients ◽

Cirrhotic Patients

Abstract Background Hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatitis C are strongly associated. The current work aimed to study the expression levels of microRNA-331-3p and microRNA-23b-3p as propable biomarkers for detecting liver cancer (HCC) at its early stages in patients with HCV-related liver cirrhosis. The current prospective study included two hundred participants, divided into three groups: group I, 100 patients with HCV-related liver cirrhosis; group II, 50 HCC patients at early stages; and group III, 50 apparentlyhealthy controls. All patients had routine laboratory workup and ultrasound hepatic assessment. Values of microRNA-331-3p and microRNA-23b-3p were measured by real-time quantitative PCR. Results Levels of miR-331-3p were significantly higher in HCC patients than in cirrhotic patients and controls (p < 0.001), while levels of miR-23b-3p were significantly lower in HCC patients compared to cirrhotics and controls (p < 0.001). ROC curve revealed that miR-23b-3p had 80% sensitivity and 74% specificity, miR-331-3p had 66% sensitivity and 61% specificity, and AFP had 64% sensitivity and 61% specificity of 61% in discrimination between HCC patients from controls. Conclusion Serum miR-23b-3p is a more effective predictor than miR-331-3p and AFP for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis C (HCV)-related cirrhotic patients.

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