HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA

CORRELATION OF SERUM ALPHA FETOPROTEIN AND TUMOR SIZE

Abstract

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) also known as malignant
hepatoma, accounts for most of the liver cancers. Alpha fetoprotein (AFP) has been undoubtedly
widely used as a marker for the detection and monitoring of HCC. This study aimed to find the
correlation of serum alpha fetoprotein and tumor size in HCC in the tertiary care hospital. Study
Design: This cross sectional descriptive study. Setting: Pathology Department of Allama Iqbal
Medical College, Lahore (AIMC). Materials and Methods: The study was carried out on 45
HCC patients (13 females and 32 males) came to Jinnah Hospital Lahore. Five ml of venous
blood was drawn aseptically from anterior cubital vein of patients and added into plain vial to
clot. The samples were centrifuged, to get the plasma separated from blood cells. Serum AFP
was measured by using Enzyme linked Immunosorbent Assay technique (ELISA). Results:
There were 10 (22.2%), 19 (42.2%), 16 (35.6) cases in AFP group 1,2,3 respectively. While
10 (22.2%), 13 (28.8%), 22 (48.8%) cases in tumor size groups A,B,C. Group C with large
tumor size got 48.8% raised AFP levels as compared to group B (28.8%) and group A (10%).
Conclusion: This study shows there is significant correlation between serum AFP and tumor
size in HCC (r=0.668). Serum AFP progressively increases with tumor size especially in larger
size. Although AFP have suboptimal sensitivity but it is still proves a beneficial in early diagnosis
and screening of HCC, when used in combination of USG/Imaging technique.