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Abstract
Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide. It has been widely established that the early detection of HCC enables more treatment options and translates to improved survival.
Aim: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of DKK1 as a serum protein marker for HCC by examining its diagnostic sensitivity and specificity in HCC.
Methods: We analyzed data for 50 patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) related HCC as the studied group. Twenty patients with chronic hepatitis C and 20 patients with HCV-related liver cirrhosis will serve as control group. DKK1 was measured in serum by ELISA. We used receiver operating characteristics (ROC) to calculate its diagnostic accuracy.
Results: We assessed serum DKK1 in 90 participants: 50 with HCC (studied group), 20 with chronic HCV infection, and 20 with liver cirrhosis (as control group). Serum concentration of DKK1 was significantly higher in HCC group and values did not differ significantly between the two control groups. We performed multivariate regression analysis using AFP level, number of focal lesions, focal lesion size and Portal vein thrombosis as an independent variable. ROC curves showed the optimum diagnostic cut off was 1.5 ng/mL (sensitivity 67.5%, specificity 89.3%).
Conclusion: Serum DKK1 could potentially be used for early diagnosis of HCC and complement measurement of AFP in the diagnosis of HCC.
Keywords:
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express sincere appreciation to Dr. Madeha Makhlouf for her valuable advice for the preparation of the study. The authors also thank Dr. Yasser Mahrous for giving the access to the research facilities and for his insightful comments and encouragement. All human participants involved in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of Clinical Research Committee of Minya University Hospital. Written informed consent was obtained from Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Minya University Hospital.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Funding information
All authors declare that there was no fund provided to this research regarding to study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript. This study had not been funded by any agency.