Diagnostic value of serum TIM-3 in patients with liver cancer / 国际肿瘤学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the changes of T cell immunoglobulin- and mucin-domain-containing molecule-3 (TIM-3) in serum of patients with liver cancer and its diagnostic value.Methods:From March 2021 to May 2021, 37 patients with viral hepatitis type B (hepatitis B group) , 44 patients with liver cirrhosis (liver cirrhosis group) and 27 patients with liver cancer (liver cancer group) were selected in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University, and 35 healthy subjects who underwent physical examination during the same period were selected as the healthy control group. The serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP) , liver function indexes and TIM-3 levels were detected, and the differences among groups were analyzed. The correlations between TIM-3 and AFP and liver function indexes were analyzed by Spearman correlation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the diagnostic value of TIM-3 in liver cancer.Results:There was a statistically significant difference in AFP among the hepatitis B group, liver cirrhosis group and liver cancer group ( χ2=11.75, P=0.003) . There were statistically significant differences in total bilirubin ( χ2=22.85, P<0.001) , direct bilirubin ( χ2=25.90, P<0.001) , indirect bilirubin ( χ2=19.92, P<0.001) , alanine aminotransferase ( χ2=36.64, P<0.001) , aspertate aminotransferase ( χ2=26.26, P<0.001) , aspertate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ( χ2=34.67, P<0.001) and total bile acid ( χ2=13.10, P<0.001) among the hepatitis B group, liver cirrhosis group and liver cancer group. The serum levels of TIM-3 in the healthy control group, hepatitis B group, liver cirrhosis group and liver cancer group were 11.1 (4.2, 14.4) ng/ml, 12.7 (4.3, 23.9) ng/ml, 11.4 (3.4, 17.0) ng/ml and 15.7 (10.5, 21.2) ng/ml, with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=11.85, P=0.008) . There were statistically significant differences between the liver cancer group and healthy control group and liver cirrhosis group (both P<0.05) . Spearman correlation analysis showed that TIM-3 had no correlation with AFP in the four groups ( r=0.05, P=0.791; r=0.18, P=0.497; r=0.03, P=0.883; r=0.24, P=0.396) . There were correlations between serum TIM-3 and total protein in the healthy control group ( r=0.36, P=0.036) , serum TIM-3 and globulin in the hepatitis B group ( r=0.35, P=0.034) , and serum TIM-3 and total bile acid in the liver cancer group ( r=0.46, P=0.017) . ROC curve analysis showed that the sensitivity of serum TIM-3 for the diagnosis of liver cancer was 48.10%, and the specificity was 91.43%, when taking healthy subjects as the control group. The sensitivity of serum TIM-3 for the diagnosis of liver cancer was 96.30%, and the specificity was 41.77%, when taking healthy subjects and liver cirrhosis patients as the control group. The sensitivity of serum TIM-3 for the diagnosis of liver cancer was 96.30%, and the specificity was 40.52%, when taking healthy subjects, hepatitis B patients and liver cirrhosis patients as the control group. Conclusion:The serum level of TIM-3 in patients with liver cancer is significantly increased, which has certain diagnostic value for liver cancer, and can be used as a diagnostic marker and potential therapeutic target for liver cancer patients.