Serum thioredoxin is a diagnostic marker for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Abstract

Here we found that serum levels of thioredoxin were increased in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The optimum diagnostic cutoff for thioredoxin was 20.5 ng/mL (area under curve [AUC] 0.946 [95% CI 0.923-0.969] in the training cohort; 0.941 [0.918-0.963] in the validation cohort). High serum concentrations of thioredoxin differentiated HCC from chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis (0.901 [0.875-0.923] in the training cohort; 0.906 [0.870-0.925] in the validation cohort). Furthermore, a higher proportion of patients with very early HCC had positive results for thioredoxin than for alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP) (73.7% VS.31.6%; P < 0.0001). Among AFP-negative patients with very early HCC, 18 (69.2%) of 26 had positive thioredoxin results. Our results indicate that serum thioredoxin complements measurement of AFP in the diagnosis of HCC, especially in very early disease. Combined model (thioredoxin and AFP) showed a significantly greater discriminatory ability as compared with those markers alone.

• Authors: Jun Li, Zhang-Jun Cheng, Yang Liu, Zhen-Lin Yan, Kui Wang, Dong Wu, Xu-Ying Wan, Yong Xia, Wan Yee Lau, Meng-Chao Wu, Feng Shen
• Journal: Oncotarget (Oncotarget) Vol. 6 Issue 11 Pg. 9551-63 (Apr 20 2015) ISSN: 1949-2553 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 25871387 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• AFP protein, human
• Biomarkers, Tumor
• Neoplasm Proteins
• alpha-Fetoproteins
• Thioredoxins

Topics

• Area Under Curve
• Biomarkers, Tumor (blood)
• Carcinoma, Hepatocellular (diagnosis, epidemiology)
• China (epidemiology)
• Diagnosis, Differential
• Disease Progression
• Early Diagnosis
• Female
• Humans
• Liver Cirrhosis (blood)
• Liver Diseases (blood)
• Liver Neoplasms (diagnosis, epidemiology)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Models, Biological
• Neoplasm Proteins (blood)
• ROC Curve
• Sensitivity and Specificity
• Thioredoxins (blood)
• Tumor Burden
• alpha-Fetoproteins (analysis)