Identification of New Serum Diagnostic Markers of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Identification of New Serum Diagnostic Markers of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The purpose of this study is to identify blood markers that have the ability to diagnose liver cancer with improved accuracy, so that it can be used alone or in conjunction with alpha-feto protein (AFP)

Liver cancer is a deadly cancer that is typically hard to diagnose and treat. The currently used blood marker for the clinical diagnosis of liver cancer is alpha-feto protein (AFP), which misses 40-60% of patients with liver cancer because it lacks sufficient specificity and sensitivity. The purpose of this study is to identify blood markers that have the ability to diagnose liver cancer with improved accuracy, so that it can be used alone or in conjunction with AFP. The aim of this study is to identify new blood markers of liver cancer that can be used to increase the rate of accurate diagnosis of this malignancy.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients diagnosed with liver cancer based on biopsy or serum AFP level, associated with characteristic hypervascular liver tumors on triphasic spiral CT scan or MRI.
• Patients with non-cancer liver conditions such as cirrhosis, adenoma, cholangioma, or nodular hyperplasia.
• Patients with hepatitis B or hepatitis C viral infections not associated with liver cancer.

Exclusion Criteria:

-Patients will be excluded if, upon looking through their medical records, information required for data analysis are missing.