Diagnostic and monitoring values of circulating AFP-mRNA and HS-GGT for hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective: Early finding of hepatocelular carcinoma (HCC) and monitoring of its metastasis are of the utmost importance. The objectives of this study were to investigate the values of circulating hepatoma-specific gamma-glutamyl transferase (HS-GGT) fraction and α-fetoprotein mRNA (AFP-mRNA) from peripheral blood mononuclear cels (PBMCs) in diagnosis or monitoring metastasis of HCC.Methods: Total RNA was extracted from hepatomas or PBMCs of patients, synthesized to AFP-cDNA through random primers and reverse transcriptase, amplified by using a nested PCR assay, and confirmed by sequencing. Simultaneity, the HS-GGT activities were quantitatively determined in sera of patients. The com-prehensive assessments of two markers were investigated in HCC patients.Results:The amplified fragments of AFP-mRNA were identical to original designed ones (159 bp) and confirmed by sequencing. The lowest sensitivity was 2 ng/L of total RNA. The incidences of AFP-mRNA and HS-GGT were 60.4% (113 of 187) and 84.5% (158 of 187) in the HCC group, and their significantly higher (P < 0.01)="" than="" that="" in="" any="" of="" other="" groups.="" the="" high="" frequencies="" of="" hs-ggt="" and="" afp-mrna="" were="" 78.2%and="" 56.4%="" in="" the="" hcc="" patients="" with="" afp="">< 50="" ng/ml.="" al="" positive="" of="" afp-mrna="" was="" found="" in="" hcc="" patients="" with="" extrahepatic="" metastasis.="" no="" significant="" correlation="" was="" found="" between="" tumor="" size="" and="" afp-mrna="" or="" hs-ggt.="" the="" total="" incidence="" of="" com-bined="" afp-mrna="" and="" hs-ggt="" detection="" was="" 93.6="" %="" for="" hcc="" diagnosis.conclusion:="" hs-ggt="" and="" afp-mrna="" are="" specific="" markers="" for="" hcc="" diagnosis="" or="" diferentiation,="" especialy="" the="" former="" for="" early="" finding="" and="" the="" later="" for="" monitoring="" metastasis="" of="" hcc.="">