Measurement of Serum and Tissue Des-γ-carboxyprothrombin in Resectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Background: The total des-γ-carboxyprothrombin (DCP) produced in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the surrounding non-cancer liver tissue was estimated and the correlation between tissue DCP and serum DCP levels was examined. Patients and Methods: Forty patients with a single primary HCC nodule served as the subjects. The DCP was quantified by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay and the tissue volumes were estimated by computed tomography (CT). Results: The mean tissue DCP in the cancer tissue, non-cancer tissue and the whole HCC specimen was 147,400, 20,200 and 190,000 mAU, respectively, which correlated positively with the serum DCP level (r²=0.657, 0.452, and 0.684, respectively). The DCP expression levels in the cancer and non-cancer liver tissue were also confirmed by immunohistochemical detection of DCP. Conclusion: The elevation of serum DCP levels in HCC patients is influenced by DCP production not only in the cancer tissue, but also in the surrounding non-cancer liver tissue.