RESUMO
Background/aim Hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC] is categorized as the firth most common type of malignancy and the third most common cause for cancer-related mortality. HCC has been growing in Egypt, with a doubling in the incidence rate in the previous 10 years owing to high prevalence of hepatitis C virus [HCV] in Egypt. Approximately 21% of Egyptian patients have cirrhosis, so the incidence of HCC is increasing. This work was to compare the diagnostic validity of Golgi protein 73 [GP-73] level versus a-fetoprotein [AFP] as tumor markers in HCC on top of HCV-related cirrhosis
Patients and methods Patients were selected from those who attending the HCC outpatient clinic at Specialized Medical Hospital in Mansoura University. Overall, 90 patients were enrolled in this study and divided into three groups: group I had 45 patients with HCC on top of liver cirrhosis due to chronic HCV, group II had 30 patients with liver cirrhosis owing to chronic HCV, and group III had 15 healthy control
Results AFP showed, at a cut-off level of greater than or equal to 69.6 ng/dl, sensitivity and specificity for HCC detection were 71.1 and 93.3%, respectively, whereas GP-73 showed, at a cut-off level greater than or equal to 16.25 ng/dl, sensitivity and specificity for detection of HCC were 71.1 and 63.3%, respectively
Conclusion Serum GP-73 level at cut-off value of 16.25 ng/ml can be used as a diagnostic marker for HCC in patients with chronic HCV. However, it is not superior to AFP as both of them had the same sensitivity, but AFP showed higher specificity. Combination of both increases the sensitivity