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Review
. 2017 Jun 28;5(2):165-168.
doi: 10.14218/JCTH.2016.00055. Epub 2017 May 10.

The Number of Positive Tumor Marker Status Is Beneficial for the Selection of Therapeutic Modalities in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Toru Beppu  1   2 , Shigeki Nakagawa  2 , Hidetoshi Nitta  2 , Hirohisa Okabe  2 , Takayoshi Kaida  2 , Katsunori Imai  2 , Hiromitsu Hayashi  2 , Yuki Koga  1   2 , Kunitaka Kuramoto  1   2 , Daisuke Hashimoto  2 , Yo-Ichi Yamashita  2 , Akira Chikamoto  2 , Takatoshi Ishiko  2 , Hideo Baba  2
Affiliations
Review

The Number of Positive Tumor Marker Status Is Beneficial for the Selection of Therapeutic Modalities in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Toru Beppu et al. J Clin Transl Hepatol. .

Abstract

Hepatic resection (HR) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) are popular local therapies for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Alpha-fetoprotein, Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein, and des-c-carboxy prothrombin are well-known and useful tumor markers for HCC. The positive number status of these tumor markers has recently been demonstrated as beneficial for predicting outcome for HCC patients treated with local therapy. Although the normal ranges reported have differed by institution, the positivity of tumor markers is consistent and can easily be assessed. Kumamoto and Wakayama's group clearly demonstrated the following: 1) Regardless of the degree of tumor stage, a triple-positive tumor marker profile can predict poor outcome in HCC patients undergoing HR; 2) For RFA alone, HCC patients with double- and triple-positive status, having less than three lesions and lesions ≤3 cm in diameter show comparably insufficient outcomes; 3) For HCC patients with lesions ≤5 cm in Child-Pugh grade A, HR is preferred over RFA; 4) Microvascular invasion rates increased even in the double-positive patients, while poorly differentiated HCC was frequently observed only in the triple-positive patients; and 5) RFA with chemoembolization, anatomical liver resection, and postoperative adjuvant chemoembolization or hepatic arterial chemotherapy might improve the outcome for patients with highly malignant HCC with multiple positive tumor markers. However, the impacts of these therapies still need to be evaluated in prospective comparative studies.

Keywords: Alpha-fetoprotein; Des-γ-carboxy prothrombin; Double-positive tumor markers; Hepatic resection; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Lens culinaris agglutinin reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein; Radiofrequency ablation; Triple-positive tumor markers.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interests related to this publication.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.. Association between histological factors and number of positive tumor markers.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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