Evaluation of Diagnostic Efficiency of Alpha-Fetoprotein in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Single-Center Experience

Lejla Mehinovic; Erna Islamagic; Azra Husic-Selimovic; Amina Kurtovic-Kozaric; Zora Vukobrat-Bijedic; Damir Suljevic

doi:10.3889/oamjms.2018.344

Evaluation of Diagnostic Efficiency of Alpha-Fetoprotein in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Single-Center Experience

Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2018 Sep 24;6(9):1668-1673. doi: 10.3889/oamjms.2018.344. eCollection 2018 Sep 25.

Authors

Lejla Mehinovic¹, Erna Islamagic¹, Azra Husic-Selimovic², Amina Kurtovic-Kozaric³, Zora Vukobrat-Bijedic⁴, Damir Suljevic¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
² Clinic for Gastroenterohepatology, Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
³ Department of Clinical Pathology, Cytology and Human Genetics, Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
⁴ Polyclinic Al-Tawil, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Abstract

Background: AFP serum levels are considered as diagnostic and specific for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC).

Aim: This study aimed to examine the diagnostic value of AFP in the distinguishing of patients with HCC from patients with LC, and to analyse the potential correlation between AFP levels and liver disease stages.

Material and methods: Fifty patients with LC and fifty patients with HCC were included in this study. The majority of the patients were males, while the HBV aetiology was dominant.

Results: Significant differences between LC and HCC patients were detected for AST, ALT, GGT, bilirubin, AFP and AP. Patients with HCC had higher AFP values compared to LC. There was no significant correlation between the size of the tumour lesion and serum AFP levels. A positive correlation between AFP concentration and GGT activity was determined, as was the negative correlation between AFP and age of the subjects. The AFP value of 23.34 ng/m showed high sensitivity (84%) and specificity (82%).

Conclusion: The size of the surface below the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.877 (0.80-0.95), which makes AFP a good biomarker and this diagnostic test is sufficient to separate patients with HCC and LC.

Keywords: AFP; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Liver cirrhosis.