METHODS: This prospective case-control study was conducted on 80 patients (40 patients with HCC and 40 patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) as diseased controls) in addition to 40 apparently healthy individuals who served as a healthy control group. AFU serum levels in the three groups were measured and compared.
RESULTS: There was a statistically highly significant elevation (p<0.001) in the median values of serum AFU in the HCC group (0.99-26.59 μmol l(-1) min(-1)) when compared with both the CLD (0.11-4.60 μmol l(-1) min(-1)) and control (0.1-1.2 μmol l(-1) min(-1)) groups. At a cut-off value of 2.3005 μmol l(-1) min(-1), AFU yielded a sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 97.5%, respectively. In HCC patients, AFU dropped significantly after successful intervention and can be used to follow-up therapy in these patients.
CONCLUSIONS: AFU is a promising tumour marker in the diagnosis of HCC. It can be used also to follow up patients after interventional therapies.