Role of glypican-3 in the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma among Egyptian patients

The aim was evaluation of the role of glypican-3 (GPC3) in early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among Egyptian patients associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) where genotype 4a is prevalent, as well as differentiating HCC from benign chronic liver disease.Methods80 individuals were enrolled in the study: 14 healthy volunteers, 18 patients with HCV, 18 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) and 30 patients with HCC. Serum GPC3 and AFP levels were measured using ELISA technique.ResultsGPC3 at cut-off value of 3.8 ng/ml (100% specificity) have superior sensitivity than AFP at cut-off values of 151.0 ng/ml (100% specificity) in differentiating HCC from benign liver disease. The GPC3 sensitivity was 93.3% versus 83.3% for AFP while the combined use of both markers improved the sensitivity to 96.7%. For early detection of HCC with tumor size ≥≥5 cm, the GPC3 sensitivity was 93.8% versus 87.5% for AFP while the combined use of both markers improved the sensitivity to 100%. Also early detection of uninodular HCC, the GPC3 sensitivity was 92.3% versus 84.6% for AFP while the combined use of both markers improved the sensitivity to 100%.ConclusionSerum GPC3 could be a potential serum marker due to its high sensitivity and specificity in early detection of HCC. The combined use of both serum GPC3 and AFP provides a promising battery of tumor markers for differentiation of HCC from benign chronic liver diseases and early detection of small and uninodular HCC.