الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Background and aims: Worldwide liver cancer stands as the second leading cause of cancer death in men and the fifth in women. Early diagnosis is of paramount importance in improving survival. In the current study, we aim to evaluate the diagnostic role of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) in HCC patients and to evaluate its role as a prognostic marker after tumor ablation. Patients and methods: The current study involved 20 HCC pa{u10019F}ents (study group) and10 pa{u10019F}ents with chronic liver disease and no evidence of focal hepatic lesion by ultrasound (control group). Routine labs, hTERT level, AFP were taken from both control and study groups (both before and after ablation), differences between groups were compared. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to determine the sensitivity and specificity of hTERT and AFP. Results: HTERT mRNA had higher sensi{u10019F}vity of 88.3% and specificity of 96.5%, compared to AFP which had a sensi{u10019F}vity of 78.2% and specificity of 93.7% in diagnosis of HCC. Moreover, hTERT mRNA was detectable in HCC patients with normal AFP levels. Conclusion: HTERT mRNA expression is clinically useful for diagnosis of HCC and monitoring its clinical course after ablation, and is a superior diagnostic marker to conventional AFP |