The level of serum VCAM-1 in patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma and its clinical significance / 肿瘤

ABSTRACT

Objective: To examine the level of serum vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to explore its clinical significance. Methods: Serum specimens from 414 HCC patients were included in this study, in addition to samples from 92 healthy individuals and 120 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Serum VCAM-1 levels were detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the correlation between VCAM-1 levels and clinical features was evaluated. Results: The serum VCAM-1 level was significantly higher in HCC patients than in healthy individuals or patients with chronic HBV infection (HBV carriers) (P < 0.0001). Moreover, the serum VCAM-1 level was correlated with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels (P = 0.021) but not with gender, age, tumor size, histological grade, HBV infection, intrahepatic metastasis or cirrhosis in HCC patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that higher VCAM-1 level was associated with shorter survival in HCC patients (P = 0.023). Conclusion: These results suggest that the serum level of VCAM-1 may serve as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for primary HCC patients.