PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - ROSA DIVELLA
AU  - ROSANNA LACALAMITA
AU  - STEFANIA TOMMASI
AU  - MARIA COVIELLO
AU  - ANTONELLA DANIELE
AU  - VITO MICHELE GARRISI
AU  - INES ABBATE
AU  - GIOVANNI SIMONE
AU  - COSIMO GADALETA
AU  - ANGELO PARADISO
AU  - MICHELE QUARANTA
TI  - PAI-1, t-PA and Circulating hTERT DNA as Related to Virus Infection in Liver Carcinogenesis
DP  - 2008 Jan 01
TA  - Anticancer Research
PG  - 223--228
VI  - 28
IP  - 1A
4099  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/28/1A/223.short
4100  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/28/1A/223.full
SO  - Anticancer Res2008 Jan 01; 28
AB  - Background: Liver carcinogenesis seems to be heavely influenced by hepatitis B and C viral (HBV, HCV) infection. The aim of our study was to improve the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by measuring alfa-fetoprotein (AFP) in addition to other molecular markers by estimating the plasma levels of human catalytic fraction of reverse telomerase (hTERT) DNA, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) in 75 patients with liver desease. Patients and Methods: A control group was enrolled (N=30). PAI-1 and t-PA levels were detected with enzyme-linked immunoassorbent assay (ELISA), DNA hTERT was performed with real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: PAI-1, t-PA and hTERT DNA levels were much higher than in controls. PAI-1 and t-PA levels were higher in the presence of both viruses compared to their absence, p<0.001. Moreover, hTERT was significantly higher in the presence of both viruses, p<0.05 and in the presence of HCV alone, p<0.05. No decrease or increase of AFP was noted in these patients. Conclusion: Our data suggest the reliability of PAI-1, t-PA and hTERT in detecting HCC, in particular when the carcinogenesis is affected by virus infection.