The diagnostic role of combination of glypican-3 and AFP in primary hepatic carcinoma

Objective To detect the expression of Glypican-3 (GPC3) and α-fetoprotein (AFP) in serum and tissues of hepatic carcinoma patients.Methods ELISA and immunohistochemical staining were applied to detect GPC3 and AFP expressing level in the serum and tissues in 57 cases with primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC) and tumor-adjacent specimens were also detected, 74 cases with post-hepatitis cirrhosis and 47 normal liver specimens.Correlation of combined expression of GPC3 and AFP and clinical pathology parameters was analyzed.Results The expression level of GPC3 in the serum of PHC and post-hepatitis cirrhosis patients and healthy people is (212.6±137.5) ng/ml, (60.9±27.8) ng/ml and (39.5±18.7) ng/ml respectively.GPC3 level in the serum of PHC was significantly higher than that of post-hepatitis cirrhosis and healthy people (t=4.503, P<0.05;t=6.045, P<0.05) .Sensitivity and specificity of combined detection of GPC3 and AFP was 84.2% and 95.7% respectively in PHC, which was significantly higher than that of any individual detection (t=4.132, P<0.05;t=6.514, P<0.05) .The expression level of GPC3 was significantly higher in PHC than tumor-adjacent tissue and normal liver tissue (t=3.724, P<0.05;t=15.799, P<0.05) .The expression of GPC3 was positively correlated with pathological grade and clinical stage, but not with tumor size, tumor number and the level of HBsAg or AFP in serum.The positive rate of GPC3 in serum of AFP-negative PHC was 59.1% while 91.4% in the AFP-positive PHC.Conclusion Detection Combined with GPC3 and AFP can improve the sensitivity and specificity of PHC, and detecting GPC3 may improve the diagnostic rate of AFP-negative PHC.