Table 1 Currently used serum biomarkers in the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
Used as | Biomarker(s) | Name | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
Individual biomarkers | AFP [6] | Alpha-fetoprotein | Increased, a sign of liver cancer |
DCP [6] | des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin | Increased, a sign of liver cancer | |
GPC3 [7] | Glypican-3 | GPC3 is overexpressed in HCC | |
GP73 [8] | Golgi glycoprotein 73 | High expression of GP73 in primary HCC | |
MDK [9] | Midkine | Overexpressed in tumors | |
OPN [10] | Osteopontin | Overexpressed | |
SCCA [11] | Squamous cell carcinoma antigen | SCCA1, SCCA2 overexpressed | |
ANXA2 [12] | Annexin A2 | Increased in HCC | |
Annexin A7 [13] | Annexin A7 | Increased expression inhibits HCC lymph node metastasis | |
CD44 [14] | Cluster Differentiation 44 | Increased | |
CD90 [14] | Cluster Differentiation 90 | Increased | |
CD133 [15] | Cluster Differentiation 133 or prominin-1 | CD133 protein expression levels of HCC in both the cytoplasm and nucleus were significantly higher than adjacent normal liver tissue. | |
EpCAM [16] | Epithelial cell adhesion molecule | Tumor size, intrahepatic metastasis, and EpCAM positivity were associated with tumor recurrence | |
TGF-β (1,2,3) [17] | Transforming growth factor beta | Highly activated | |
FGF [18] | Fibroblast growth factor | Expression was only detected in the liver tissues of patients with chronic hepatitis type C and HCC | |
HGF/SF [19] | Hepatocyte growth factor receptor | HGFA and Matriptase convert pro-HGF/SF to mature HGF/SF | |
Combination of biomarkers | AFP, AFP-L3, DCP [6] | Alpha-fetoprotein, L. culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein, des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin | Increased, a sign of liver cancer |
CK19, GPC3, AFP [20] | Cytokeratin 19, Glypican-3, Alpha-fetoprotein | GPC3 with CK19 and AFP | |
GPC3, HSP70, GS [21] | Glypican 3, Heat shock protein 70, Glutamine synthetase | All increased, show a better diagnosis | |
TLN1, MDK [22] | Talin-1, Midkine | Talin-1 decreased, MDK increased in serum | |
SCCA-AFP [11] | Squamous cell carcinoma antigen, Alpha-fetoprotein | Overexpressed | |
HIF-1α, VEGF (A-D) [23] | Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, vascular endothelial growth factor | HIF-1α and VEGF showed higher expression |