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Gastroenterol. Insights
MDPI
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Abstract: |
hepatitis C is an inflammatory liver disease caused by the hepatitis C infection
(HCV), and without treatment, almost 50% will progress to liver cirrhosis. Hepatocellular carcinoma
(HCC) is the most frequent type of primary liver cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancerrelated mortality. Aim of the study: the objective of this study was to evaluate the serum level of
vitronectin (VTN) compared to AFP and determine their role as diagnostic and prognostic markers of
HCV-related liver diseases. Subject and Methods: this study involved 52 HCV patients from which
26 patients were cirrhotic, and 26 patients had HCC (on top of hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis)
plus 10 healthy people as a control group. It was carried out in Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Zagazig University Hospitals, Egypt. All individuals in this
study were subjected to physical examination, full history taking, liver function tests, assessment
of serum levels of Vitronectin (VTN) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) before and after the intervention
within three months. Results: serum level of vitronectin increased significantly in cirrhosis patients
and HCC patients than controls (p = 0.0041), (p < 0.001), respectively, and in HCC than cirrhosis
patients (p < 0.001). Significant positive correlations were observed between levels of serum VTN
and AFP in all HCV patients as well as cirrhotic patients (p < 0.001, p = 0.011, respectively). On the
contrary, VTN and AFP didn’t show a significant correlation in HCC patients’ group. Moreover, the
median serum level of VTN decreased significantly after treatment in patients with HCC (p < 0.001).
At cut-off 38.5 ng/mL for AFP it shows sensitivity 80.8%, specificity 76.9% to differentiate HCC
from cirrhosis cases. While VTN shows 84.6% sensitivity, 96.2% specificity at cut-off 26.5 µg/mL.
Regarding clinicopathological characteristics and VTN levels, half of patients were stage B, 63.9%
had tumor size > 3 cm, 84.6% had more than one focal lesion. Conclusions: these results may allow
one to speculate a potential role of Vitronectin in diagnosis and prognosis of HCC on top of cirrhosis
related to HCV infection in addition to AFP and US and CT.
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