Serum Aldo-Keto Reductase Family 1 Member B10 (AKR1B10) as a Potential Biomarker for Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B10 (AKR1B10) in a Beijing cohort with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods

This study included 521 subjects who visited Peking Union Medical College Hospital from June 2017 to May 2023, including 109 cases of HCC, 165 cases of healthy controls, 106 cases of benign liver diseases, and 141 cases of other cancers. Serum AKR1B10 levels were measured and compared across various groups. Diagnostic performances of serum AKR1B10 and other tumor markers were assessed using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves. In addition, a subset of HCC patients who underwent surgical resection were recruited for clinical follow-up study.

Results

We found that serum AKR1B10 expression was higher in patients with HCC relative to other control groups. The association between serum AKR1B10 and clinical features of HCC was not observed. Serum AKR1B10 showed a high diagnostic performance for HCC, and when combined with AFP, the diagnostic effectiveness was significantly improved. Specifically, serum AKR1B10 showed superior diagnostic effectiveness for AFP-negative HCC. The clinical follow-up study indicated a gradual decrease in serum AKR1B10 after surgery.

Conclusion

Our study demonstrated that serum AKR1B10 is a promising biomarker for HCC, and when used in combination with AFP can significantly improve the detection rate of HCC.

Keywords:

• AKR1B10
• AFP
• hepatocellular carcinoma
• diagnostic performance

Data Sharing Statement

The de-identified data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Ethics Statement

This study was performed in compliance with Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (approval number: HS2017071). The Ethics Committee agreed to waive the informed consent in this clinical study. The reason for the waiver is that this study would not interfere with the diagnosis or treatments of the patients. All data involving patients in this study are strictly confidential in accordance with the national legislation and the institutional requirements.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis, and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

Zhe Cao is an employee of Hunan Light of Life Biotechnology Co., Ltd. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFC2406500) and the Beijing Key Clinical Specialty for Laboratory Medicine Excellent Project (No. ZK201000).