Affiliations: [a] Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Hangzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Hangzhou First People's Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China | [b] Department of Oncology, Cancer Institute, Affiliated Hangzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Hangzhou First People's Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Sheng-Lin Ma, Department of Oncology, Cancer Institute, Affiliated Hangzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Hangzhou First People's Hospital, 261 Huansha Road, Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang, China. Tel.: +86 0571 56005600; Fax: +86 0571 56005600; E-mail:[email protected]
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Vitronectin (VN) might be involved in the progression
of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to evaluate the diagnostic and
prognostic value of serum vitronectin among HCC patients.
METHODS: A total of 105 patients with HCC, 91 with liver
cirrhosis, 102 with chronic hepatitis, and 100 healthy subjects were
recruited. Serum VN and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels were measured.
RESULTS: Serum VN levels were significantly higher in HCC patients
than in the other groups. Based on area under receiver operating
characteristic curve, serum VN had similar diagnostic value, compared with
serum AFP, in distinguishing HCC from the groups, and also improved the
diagnostic value of AFP alone. Serum VN levels were associated with the
degree of histological differentiation, multiple foci, vascular tumor
thrombosis and tumor node metastasis stage. Serum VN was an independent
predictor for early recurrence and disease-free survival. Moreover, serum VN
possessed similar prognostic predictive performance as compared to serum AFP
and also significantly enhanced the prognostic value of AFP alone.
CONCLUSIONS: Elevated serum VN levels represented high diagnostic
value and had close relation to clinicopathological factors and early
recurrence, suggesting that serum VN might be a useful diagnostic and
prognostic marker for HCC.
