BMC Research Notes (Nov 2010)

Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein as potential biomarker for alpha-fetoprotein-low hepatocellular carcinoma

  • Achwan Wenny A,
  • Martamala Ruswhandi,
  • Lelosutan Syafruddin AR,
  • Budhihusodo Unggul,
  • Sanityoso Andri,
  • Hasan Irsan,
  • Gani Rino A,
  • Wibowo Gunawan A,
  • Kheng Valentine,
  • Bachtiar Indra,
  • Soemoharjo Soewignyo,
  • Sulaiman Ali,
  • Lesmana Laurentius A,
  • Tai Susan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-3-319
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 1
p. 319

Abstract

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Abstract Background The outcome of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains poor because of late diagnosis. We determined the performances of α -1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) and des-γ-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) for the diagnosis of HCC, especially for α-fetoprotein (AFP)-low HCC. Methods Of the 220 patients included in this retrospective study, 124 had HCC, and 61 (49%) of these were AFP-low HCC (AFP ≤ 20 ng/mL). The remaining 96 patients, including 49 with chronic hepatitis B or C and 47 with cirrhosis, were considered as control. Plasma AAG was analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and confirmed using Western blot technique. Results When all patients with HCC were evaluated, the area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for AAG (0.94, 95% CI: 0.91-0.97) and DCP (0.92, 95% CI: 0.88-0.95) were similar (P = 0.40). AAG had better area under ROC curve (0.96, 95% CI: 0.94-0.99) than DCP (0.87, 95% CI: 0.81-0.93) for AFP-low HCC (P Conclusion Our cross-sectional study showed that AAG was better performance in diagnosing HCC patients with low AFP, while DCP did better in those with high AFP.