Evaluation of serum dickkopf-1 as a novel biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma

Hassan, Neveen A.M.; Mohammed, Ebtsam F.; Mahran, Zainab G.; Abd Elhamed, Zeinab A.; Ebrahim, Aya M.; Makhlouf, Nahed A.

doi:10.4103/JCMRP.JCMRP_130_18

Evaluation of serum dickkopf-1 as a novel biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma

Authors

Abstract

Background
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common worldwide cancer. α-Fetoprotein (AFP) is a routinely used biomarker for HCC diagnosis, but with reduced clinical applicability due to low sensitivity and specificity. Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is vital in the differentiation, survival, apoptosis, and cell death. DKK-1 has a potential oncogenic role in carcinogenesis.
Aim
In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic and prognostic performance of serum DKK-1, AFP, and their combination in HCC.
Patient and methods
This study was done on 40 HCC patients, 24 liver cirrhosis patients, and 16 age-matched and sex-matched healthy controls. The patients were selected from the Tropical Medicine and Gastroenterology Department, Al-Rajhi Liver Hospital.
Results
The optimum cutoff for DKK-1 in HCC patients versus liver cirrhosis and control groups was more than 331 pg/ml with a sensitivity of 80.0% and specificity of 87.5%. The optimum cutoff for AFP was more than 8 IU/ml (sensitivity 77.5%, specificity 85.0%). The combination of the two markers had the best sensitivity (92.5%) in the diagnosis of HCC patients.
Conclusion
DKK-1 levels was significantly higher in newly diagnosed HCC patients than in the nonmalignant control group. The combination of the two markers (DKK-1 and AFP) enhanced the sensitivity.

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