Mini-array of multiple tumor-associated antigens to enhance autoantibody detection for immunodiagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Liver cancer, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is particularly prevalent in Africa and Asia. HCC affects the Hispanic population of the United States at a rate double that of the white population. The majority of people with HCC will die within 1 year of its detection. This high case-fatality rate can in part be attributed to lack of diagnostic methods that allow early detection. How to establish a methodology to identify the high-risk individuals for HCC remains to be investigated. The multi-factorial and multi-step nature in the molecular pathogenesis of human cancers must be taken into account in both the design and interpretation of studies to identify markers which will be useful for early detection of cancer. Our recent studies demonstrated that a mini-array of multiple tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) might enhance autoantibody detection for diagnosis of HCC, especially for the alpha fetoprotein (AFP)-negative cases. It also suggested that different types of cancer might require different panels of TAAs to achieve the sensitivity and specificity required to make immunodiagnosis a feasible adjunct to tumor diagnosis.