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Objective@#This study aimed to reveal the potential clinical and biological functions of frizzled related protein (FRZB) mRNA expression in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). @*Methods@#We used the keyword “lung cancer” to search the data through Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database attached to NCBI(National Center of Biotechnology) and download the data of LUAD and LUSC from TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) Database. A total of eight LUAD and six LUSC datasets were incorporated in this analysis. We defined cutoff value of FRZB using Cutoff Finder into the two groups to calculate hazard ratio (HR). @*Results@#We found that high expression level of FRZB mRNA in tumor tissues was a positive prognostic factor for overall survival in LUAD [pooled HR（95%CI）=0.54（0.46-0.64）,P＜0.05 in univariate analysis; pooled HR（95%CI）=0.66（0.54-0.79）,P＜0.05 in multivariate analysis]. Interestingly, there was no similar results in LUSC [pooled HR（95%CI）=1.11（0.67-1.84）,P＞0.05 in univariate analysis; pooled HR（95%CI）=1.13（0.71-1.78）,P＞0.05 in multivariate analysis]. We also found that FRZB may inhibit WNT signal pathway by t-SNE and correlation analysis. By enrichment analysis, FRZB and its most correlated genes were involved in multiple immune-related pathways, such as complement and coagulation cascades, humoral immune response, etc. @*Conclusion@#High expression of FRZB mRNA in LUAD was associated with better prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma. These results suggest that FRZB may be used as a potential marker for favorable prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma.
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Objective@#To investigate the effect of IFN-γ on the expression of IL-33 in colon cancer CT26 cells. @*Methods@#CT26 cells were treated with IFN-γ and IFN-γ combined with PKA inhibitor H89, respectively, and a negative control group (NC, untreated) was set up at the same time. The mRNA expression levels of PKA, CREB and IL-33 in CT26 cells were detected by qRT-PCR. The expression levels of PKA, CREB, p-CREB and IL-33 proteins in CT26 cells were determined by western blot. The localization of CREB protein in CT26 cells was analyzed by the immunofluorescence confocal microscopy. @*Results@#The relative expression levels of PKA, CREB and IL-33 mRNA in the IFN-γ-treated group were 2.50±0.11, 3.10±0.08 and 2.80±0.22, respectively, which were significantly higher than those in the NC group (P＜0.05). The relative expression levels of PKA, CREB and IL-33 mRNA in the IFN-γ combined with H89 treatment group were 0.21±0.02, 0.59±0.05 and 0.35±0.04, respectively, which were significantly lower than those in the NC group and IFN-γ-treated group (P＜0.05). The expression levels of PKA, CREB and IL-33 proteins detected by western blot were consistent with that of mRNA. Immunofluorescence confocal results showed that the expression level of CREB in the IFN-γ-treated group was significantly higher than that in the NC group, and that the expression level of CREB in the IFN-γ combined with H89 treatment group was significantly lower than that in the IFN-γ-treated group. @*Conclusion@#IFN-γ may induce the expression of IL-33 in colon cancer CT26 cells via the PKA-CREB pathway.
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Objective@#To investigate the expression of IFIT2 (interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 2) in human lung cancer tissue and analyze the relationship between the IFIT2 expression and clinicopathological features and prognosis. @*Methods@#Tissue microarray and immunofluorescence staining were used to examine the IFIT2 expression in lung cancer tissue and their adjacent tissues. Wilcoxon rank test was used to compare the IFIT2 expression in lung cancer and corresponding adjacent tissues. The chi-square test was used to analyze the relationship between the IFIT2 expression in lung cancer tissues and clinicopathological features of the patients. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between IFIT2 expression and patients′ overall survival. Cox model was used to analyze the correlation between different clinical parameters and prognosis. @*Results@#There was significant difference for the IFIT2 expression between the lung cancer tissues and adjacent tissues (P＜0.01). There was no significant correlation between IFIT2 expression and clinicopathological features of patients (P＞0.05). In lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, Kaplan-Merier survival analysis showed that the overall survival (OS) of patients in IFIT2 low expression group was significantly shorter than that in IFIT2 high expression group (HR=2.392, 95%CI: 1.103-5.186, P=0.027; HR=2.907, 95%CI: 1.118-7.559, P=0.029, respectively). Multi-factor Cox model analysis indicated that distant metastasis (HR=8.033, 95% CI: 3.664-17.614, P=0.000) was independent prognostic factors for lung adenocarcinoma, lymph node metastasis (HR=3.390, 95% CI: 1.029-11.175, P=0.045) and IFIT2 low expression (HR=3.762,95%CI: 1.236-11.451, P=0.020) were independent prognostic factors for lung squamous cell carcinoma. @*Conclusion@#The down-regulated expression of IFIT2 in lung cancer tissues suggests that it may play an important role in initiation and development of lung cancer. It could be used as a valuable risk factor to predict the prognosis of lung cancer patients.
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Objective@#To investigate the degree of infiltration and distribution of tissue-resident CD8 + T cells (CD103 + CD8 + T cells) in gastric cancer tissues, and analyze the relationship between the degree of infiltration and clinicopathological features and prognosis. @*Methods@#Tissue microarray and immunofluorescence staining were used to examine the CD8 + T cells and CD103 + CD8 + T cells infiltration in 90 cases of gastric cancer and their adjacent normal tissues. Wilcoxon rank test was used to compare the CD8 + T cells, CD103 + CD8 + T cells infiltration and CD103 + CD8 + T cells/CD8 + T cells ratio in gastric cancer and corresponding normal tissues. The chi-square test was used to analyze the relationship between CD8 + T cells, CD103 + CD8 + T cells infiltration and CD103 + CD8 + T cells/ CD8 + T cells ratio in gastric cancer tissues and clinicopathological features of the patients. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to explore the correlation between CD8 + T cells, CD103 + CD8 + T cells infiltration and CD103 + CD8 + T cells/ CD8 + T cells ratio and overall survival. Cox model was used to analyze the correlation between different clinical parameters and prognosis of the patients. @*Results@#There was no significant difference for the infiltration of CD103 + CD8 + T cells between the gastric cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues (P＞0.05). The infiltration rate of CD103 + CD8 + T cells in the cases in stage Ⅲ to Ⅳ (69.09%, 38/55) was significantly lower than that in the stage Ⅰ to Ⅱ cases (91.43%, 32/35), (χ 2 =6.175, P=0.013). There was no significant correlation between CD103 + CD8 + T cells infiltration and other clinicopathological features (P＞0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the patients with high CD103 + CD8 + T cells infiltration showed significantly longer overall survival than the patients with low CD103 + CD8 + T cells infiltration (HR=2.187, 95%CI: 1.062-4.500, P=0.033 6). Multivariate Cox model analysis indicated that tumor diameter (HR=2.031, 95%CI: 1.163-3.546, P=0.013) and CD103 + CD8 + T cells infiltration (HR=0.516, 95%CI: 0.285-0.934, P=0.029) were independent prognostic factors for gastric cancer. @*Conclusion@#CD103 + CD8 + T cells in gastric cancer tissues should be associated with good prognosis, suggesting that they play an important role in the inhibition of gastric carcinogenesis and development, and can be used as an important factor for the prognosis evaluation of the patients with gastric cancer.
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Objective To explore a new efficient extraction method of dorsal root ganglions(DRGs)of rats by exploring and extracting DRGs reversely along the nerve traveling pathway. Methods The DRGs were extracted by the traditional method of opening the intervertebral foramina and the new method, extracting DRGs reversely along the nerve traveling pathway,respectively. The time consuming and the number of intact DRGs obtained with these two method were compared. Results The number of intact DRGs(L3-5segments,both sides)extracted from each rat with the traditional method was(3.08 ± 1.31),and the average time consuming of each DRG was(5.58 ± 1.21)min. As for the new method ,the number of intact DRGs extracted from each rat was(4.29 ± 1.08), and the average time consuming was(1.69 ± 0.91)min,significantly better than that of the traditional method(P < 0.05 for both). Conclusions The new method of exploring and extracting DRGs reversely along the nerve traveling pathway is more efficient for obtaining intact DRGs of rats,providing more useful tissue materials for subsequent culture and morphological studies of DRG cells.
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Objective To construct a prognostic nomogram for predicting the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer ( CRC) , and verify its accuracy. Methods The clinical pathologic data from 438 CRC patients hospitalized in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soo-chow University during January 2006 and May 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. The independent risk factors for predicting the prog-nosis of CRC were determined by the univariate and multivariate regression model. The prognostic nomogram was established by the R-language software. Then, the nomograms of postoperative 3-year and 5-year disease free survivals ( DFS) were drawn, and compared with the actual status. The internal validation and accuracy of the nomogram were determined by the Bootstrap method and the calculat-ed concordance index ( C-index) , respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the nomogram for predicting the 3-year and 5-year DFS were compared with those of TNM system established by the American Joint Committee On Cancer (AJCC) (7th ed.) by using the time-dependent ROC curve. Results Among 438 CRC patients, the metastasis of CRC occurred in 233 patients, including 105 liver metas-tasis and 57 lung metastasis. Multivariate COX regression analysis showed that tumor differentiation degree, TNM stage, serum CEA level, serum CA19-9 level, neutrophil lymphocyte ratio ( NLR) and P53 level were the independent risk factors of CRC. The C-index of the constructed nomogram for predicting the survival rate of CRC patients was 0.678. The predicted 3-year and 5-year DFS by the no-mogram were highly coincident with the actual status. The analysis results of the time-dependent ROC curve showed that the sensitivity and specificity of the established nomogram for predicting the postoperative 3-year and 5-year DFS were higher than those of AJCC-TNM stage.Conclusion The established nomogram may accurately predict the prognosis of CRC patients, which may be helpful for clinicians to follow up or make beneficial treatment for CRC patients.
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Objective To purify the anti-T cell immunoglobulin mucin ( TIM)-3 monoclonal antibody 4E8 and examine its biological function in vitro. Methods The mouse monoclonal antibody against human TIM-3, clone 4E8, was obtained by standard protocol for monoclonal antibody purification. The cell lines expressing human TIM-3 molecule were obtained by cell transfection technique. We ex-amined the ability of 4E8 binding to human TIM-3 by flow cytometry. The ability of 4E8 blocking the binding of fusion protein TIM-3 Ig-huFc with phosphatidylserine( PtdSer) , the apoptotic cell surface TIM-3 ligand, was also analyzed by flow cytometry. Mixed lympho-cyte reaction ( MLR) and ELISA assays were used to determine the effect of TIM-3 monoclonal antibody ( 4E8) on IFN-γsecretion in CD4+ T cells. Results 4E8 specifically bound to human TIM-3 but could not block the binding of TIM-3 to Ptdser. Compared with the negative control (IFN-γ secretion: 958.3±153.2), 4E8 enhanced the ability of CD4+ T cells to secrete IFN-γ in MLR (4E8 of 10μg/mL group:IFN-γ secretion 2563±150.3 and 4E8 of 3.33 μg/mL group:IFN-γ secretion 1981±211.5) with statistically signifi-cant difference ( P<0.05) . In addition, the combined application of 4E8 with the anti-programmed death-1 ( PD-1) monoclonal anti-body nivolumab showed synergistic effects for increasing IFN-γ secretion in MLR assay ( 4E8 of 10 μg/mL group: IFN-γ secretion 3049±80.5 and 4E8 of 0.33μg/mL group:IFN-γsecretion 1957±321.3) as compared with 4E8 alone (10μg /mL group:IFN-γse-cretion 2563±150.3 and 0.33 μg/mL group:IFN-γ secretion 844±76.2) with statistically significant difference (P<0.05). Conclu-sion We successfully obtained a 4E8 clone of monoclonal antibody to human TIM-3 which may enhance the capacity of IFN-γsecre-tion from CD4+ T cells. The effect of enhancing IFN-γ secretion of CD4+T cells by TIM-3 monoclonal antibody was independent from blocking the binding of TIM-3 with Ptdser.
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Objective To evaluate the feasibility of the novel staining protocol based on protein L in flow cytometry to detect the expression of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) on the surface of T cells from patients.Methods The peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs) were collected from 2 patients with CD19 + lymphoma by hemapheresis and T cells were purified by magnetic bead selection.CAR was transfected with retroviruses targeting CD19 and CD22 into T cells to induce chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells (CAR-T cells).The single-chain fragments of antibody molecules on the surface of CAR-T cells were labeled by biotinylated protein L-streptavidin-PE system.The proportions of activated CD19-CAR and CD22-CAR positive T cells in the culture were detected by flow cytometry.The results were compared with those detected by conventional flow cytometry method based on Anti-IgG staining.Results The expression of CAR on the surface of CAR-T cells was successfully detected by flow cytometry protocol based on the staining of single-chain variable fragment (scFv)-biotinylated protein L-streptavidin-PE.The percentages of CD19-CAR-T cells from the 2 patients were 71.6％ vs 64.2％ and 49.3％ vs 43.8％ in the protein L group and the Anti-IgG control group respectively,and the percentages of CD22-CAR-T cells were 53.1％ vs 46.3％ and 56.5％ vs 64.0％.The results of the both groups were similar.Conclusion The staining protocol based on protein L could be used as a routine staining method in flow cytometry for the detection of CAR-T cells.
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Objective@#To investigate the associations between various blood test parameters including MLR (monocyte-lymphocyte ratio) and prognosis in post-operative esophagogastric junction cancer patients.@*Methods@#We retrospectively studied the preoperative and postoperative data of 309 patients who underwent radical surgery for esophagogastric junction cancer. The relationship between MLR, neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and overall survival (OS) was analyzed.@*Results@#The cutoff values of MLR、NLR and PLR were 0.201, 1.697 and 96.960, respectively. The median OS was 51.4 months for all the patients in the study group (n=309). MLR in patients with esophagogastric junction carcinoma was associated with gender, depth of invasion, histological grade, TNM stage, NLR and PLR (P<0.05). PLR was associated with tumor size, TNM stage, NLR and MLR (P<0.05). NLR was associated with gender, tumor size, TNM stage, PLR and MLR (both P<0.05). Univariate analysis showed that tumor size, depth of tumor invasion, metastasis of lymph nodes, pathological grading, nerve infiltration, lymphovascular invasion, TNM staging, PLR and MLR were associated with the median overall survival time (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that TNM stage, nerve infiltration and MLR were independent prognostic predictors for patients with esophagogastric junction cancer (P<0.05), but not PLR or NLR. Setting the optimal cut-off value of the MLR in 0.201, the area under the curve was 0.603, significantly larger than that of PLR and NLR (P<0.05).@*Conclusions@#Preoperative MLR is a very useful predictor of patients with esophagogastric junction cancer who underwent radical rescetion. Preoperative MLR> 0.201 is an independent risk factor for postoperative survival in patients with esophagogastric cancer, and PLR> 96.960 may predict a poor prognosis risk.
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Objective To investigate the effects of down-regulation of lemur tyrosine kinase 3 (LMTK3) on the cytobiological behaviors of human lung cancer A549 cells.Methods The expression of LMTK3 in A549 cells was interfered with small hair RNA (shR-NA),and the expression level of LMTK3 was determined by RT-PCR.The effects of LMTK3 on the proliferation,migration,cell cycle and apoptosis of A549 cells were determined by the CCK-8 assay,scratch assay,Transwell assay and flow cytometry,respectively.Results The shLMTK3 cells with stably low expression of LMTK3 and control cells (Scramble) with normal expression of LMTK3 were successfully obtained.The relative proliferation rates of shLMTK3 cells cultured for 24,48 and 72 hours were significantly lower than those in the control cells (0.305 ±0.018 vs 0.354 ±0.011,t =5.24,P＜0.01;0.461 ±0.044 vs 0.551 ±0.027,t =3.91,P ＜0.01;0.74 ± 0.029 vs 0.881 ± 0.028,t =7.70,P ＜ 0.01).The relative migration rate of shLMTK3 cells 24 hours after scratching was significantly lower than that of control cells (0.51 ±0.096 vs 1.00 ± 0.029,t =4.81,P ＜ 0.01).Transwell assay showed that the number of migration cells in shLMTK3 group was significantly less than that in Scramble group (161 ±9.29 vs 308.66 ± 17.60,t =7.42,P ＜ 0.05).The results of flow cytometry showed that shLMTK3 cells were blocked at G1 phase (t =4.35,P ＜ 0.05),and that the inhibition of LMTK3 had no influence on the apoptosis of A549 cells.Conclusion Down-regulation of LMTK3 expression in human lung cancer A549 cells may inhibit the proliferation and migration of A549 cells significantly,indicating that the abnormal expression of LMTK3 in lung carcinoma cells may regulate the biological behaviors and progression of tumors.
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Patients with knee osteoarthritis increase gradually.Arthroscopic debridement has achieved good results in clinical treatment at home and abroad in recent years.The technology is not only easy to operate at a low cost, it but also can directly improve the internal environment and function of the knee joints, cut off the vicious circle of joint cavity, which can provide a good environment for the normal production of joint fluid after a large amount of saline lavaging knee joint cavity during operation. This review summarizes the clinical curative effect of knee osteoarthritis with arthroscopic debridement in recent five years and provides the guidance and reference for the researchers.
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Objective To study the in vitro anti-tumor activity of dendritic cells (DCs) loading with antigen produced by radiofrequency ablation of tumor lysate in situ combined with cytokine-induced killer cells (CIK).Methods CIK ceils derived from BALB/C mouse spleen and DCs derived from bone marrow were prepared,and experimental model of murine colon carcinoma were established for radiofrequency ablation.The supernatant of tumor tissue in situ lysis after repeated freezing and thawing were tested by lowry protein quantitative statutory,amounting to a final concentration of 5 μg/ml,then load to the first 5 days of culture DCs (Ag-DC),2 days later,co-cultured with CIK cells after the first seven days of culture 48 h (Ag-DC-CIK).Flow cytometry was used to analyze costimulatory molecules on the surface of the cells,and CCK-8 assay to detect in vitro cytotoxic activity.Results The DCs loading with antigen resulted in an increase in the proportion of CD86 + CD11 c +,MHC Ⅱ + CD11 c + and MHC Ⅱ + CD80 + cells.The main effector cells of CIK cells were CD3 + NK1.1 + cells.The percentage of CD3 + NK1.1 + cells was 1.45％ on the first day of the culture ; while when they had been cultured for 7 days,the percentage CD3 + NK1.1 + significantly increased to 36.9％.The cytotoxicity of Ag-DC-CIK cells toward C26 cells was much more efficient than that of DC-CIK,CIK cells.The cytotoxic activity of the former was significantly lower than the latter and the same target ratio.When the ratios of effector cells to target cells were 5 ∶ 1,the cytotoxic activity of Ag-DC-CIK cells against C26 cells was (74.9 ± 3.5) ％,; while the DC-CIK was (71.2 ± 2.1) ％ and the CIK cells was (68.7 ± 2.9) ％.The difference was statistically significant(F =7.007,P =0.007).When the ratios of effector cells to target cells were 10 ∶ 1,the cytotoxic activity of Ag-DC-CIK cells against C26 cells was (82.3 ± 4.5) ％,while the DC-CIK cells was (77.1 ± 5.1) ％,and the CIK cells was (72.7 ± 2.8) ％.The difference was statistically significant (F =7.727,P =0.005).When the ratios of effector cells to target cells were 20 ∶ 1,the cytotoxic activity of Ag-DC-CIK cells against C26 cells was (83.2 ± 1.9) ％,while the DC-CIK cells was (77.2 ± 4.2) ％,and the CIK cells was (73.0 ± 2.6) ％.The difference was statistically significant (F =16.594,P =0.000).Conclusion DCs loading with antigen produced by radiofrequency ablation of tumor in situ pyrolysis products can improve in vitro cytotoxic activity combined with CIK cells,which can provide a new comprehensive cancer treatment strategy.
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Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and adverse effects of brucea javanica oil emulsion combined with DP chemotherapy in treating advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.Methods Totally 48 patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer were divided into two groups randomly by mechanical sampling method.Twenty-four cases in treatment group were treated by brucea javanica oil emulsion combined with DP chemotherapy, while 24 cases in control group were treated by DP chemotherapy only.The clinical effects were evaluated after treatment of two cycles.Results The short-term effective rate was 54.2% (13/24) in treatment group and 45.8% (11/24) in control group, and there was no significant difference between two groups ( χ2 = 0.333, P = 0.564).The rate of increased and stable life quality was 87.5%(21/24) in treatment group and 58.3%(14/24) in control group,and there was significant difference between two groups (χ2 = 5.169,P = 0.023).The rate of increased and stable weight was 79.2% (19/24) in treatment group and 45.8%( 11/24) in control group, and there was significant difference between two groups (χ2 = 5.689,P = 0.017).The incidence of nausea or vomiting was 45.8% (11/24) in treatment group and 41.7%( 10/24 ) in control group, and there was no significant difference between two groups (χ2 = 0.085, P = 0.771 ).Compared with those in control group, patients in treatment group had less adverse effects in decreasing of peripheral blood leucocytes and showed better immune function.Conclusion Brucea javanica oil emulsion combined with DP chemotherapy in treating advanced non-small-cell lung cancer has good clinical effect, especially enhances the quality of life, improves immune function and decreases the adverse effects of chemotherapy.
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Objective To investigate the relevance between the times of cytokine-induced killer cell (CIK cell) adoptive immunotherapy and the survival of the elderly patients with gastric cancer.Methods Lymphocyte separation medium was used to isolate mononuclear cells, and then the cultured CIK cells were infused back into the patients with gastric cancer. A retrospective cohort study was adopted by using Kaplan-Meier to estimate median survival time and survival rate, using Log-rank test to analyze the impact of clinical factors on survival rate, and using RR and 95% CI to estimate the contact intensity of death outcome, survival time and CIK cell treatment. Results There were nostatistically significant differences in gender,age, tumor site, histological type, invasion depth, lymph node metastasis, pathological grade, tumor size or tumor distribution between chemotherapy group and CIK treatment group (all P＞0.05). The median survival time of patients with gastric cancer was significantly longer in CIK treatment group than in chemotherapy group (61 vs. 21, χ2=10.215, P=0.001). Compared with the patients treated by chemotherapy alone, the increased times of CIK treatment induced more survival rate and 2-5 years life spans (χ2=12. 461, P=0.006). Conclusions With the treatment that CIK cells are infused back into the elderly patients with gastric cancer, the risk of death is reduced, and the lifespan is prolonged, which is associated with the CIK cell treatment times.
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Objective To evaluate the significance of AFP-IgM, this is one of new tumor markers, in the diagnosis of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC). Methods The contents of AFP-IgM and AFP in serum of 103 healthy subjects, 74 patients suffered primary hepatic carcinoma, 27 patients affected by liver cirrhosis and 63 patients affected by chronic hepatitis were detected by means of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and electrochemiluminescence. No-PHC is comprised of liver cirrhosis,chronic hepatitis and health subjects as control group. Results The area under ROC curve of AFP was larger than that of AFP-IgM (0.85 vs 0.72, Z=3.21) and the best cut-off value of AFP-IgM and AFP was 3×105-AU/L and 10 ug/L respectively, which was determined by ROC curve. Under the cut-off value, the sensitivity of AFP- lgM and AFP for PHC were 64.9% and 79.7%, and the specificity were 75.6% and 80.3%, yet their efficacies were similar. However, for early diagnosis of liver cancer (stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ), the area under ROC curve of AFP-IgM was larger than that of AFP (0.91 vs 0.82,Z=1.73). The sensitivity of AFP-IgM andAFP were 94.4% and 72. 2%, and the specificity were 81.9% and 79.9%. The differences of AFP-IgMand AFP for early diagnosis of liver cancer were statistically significant. When both of the test results combined AFP-IgM with AFP are positive, it can be diagnosed as liver cancer. The specificity of combineddetermination of the two forms was 89.1%, and the efficacy was 79. 0%. Conclusions Both of thesensitivity and specificity of the AFP-IgM test were higher than that of the AFP for early diagnosis of livercancer. We also found that combined determination of the two forms significantly increased the specificityand the positive predictive value for the diagnosis of PHC, thus AFP-IgM was of especially significance forearly diagnosis of liver cancer.