TELOMERASE AS A TUMOR MARKER IN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA

This study was conducted on 25 healthy controls, 25 cirrhotic
patients and 30 patients with HCC. All patients had been diagnosed
with HCV-associated chronic liver disease. Methods: Serum PIVKAII
and AFP were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay
(ELISA), while telomerase activity in peripheral blood was estimated
by polymerase chain reaction- enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay
(PCR- ELISA method). Results: Mean telomerase activity, PIVKAII
and AFP levels were significantly higher in HCC patients as
compared to both cirrhotic patients and controls, also a significant
elevation in cirrhotic patients were found as compared to controls.
Positive correlation was found between telomerase activity and size
of hepatic focal lesions. Also, a positive correlation was found
between both telomerase activity and PIVIKA-II and between the
pathological grades of HCC. In HCC the sensitivity/specificity
(88.2/79.6) of telomerase activity was much higher than both
PIVIKA-II (80.5/69.3) and AFP (72.6/61.5). Conclusion: The
usefulness of telomerase activity assay in HCC diagnosis and it's
superiority to other tumor marker were recorded. Therefore,
telomerase activity is a novel, available detector and prognostic
marker for HCC diagnosis.