α-Fetoprotein, Des-γ Carboxyprothrombin, and Lectin-Bound α-Fetoprotein in Early Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background & Aims

α-Fetoprotein (AFP) is widely used as a surveillance test for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among patients with cirrhosis. Des-γ carboxy-prothrombin (DCP) and lectin-bound AFP (AFP-L3%) are potential surveillance tests for HCC. The aims of this study were to determine performance of DCP and AFP-L3% for the diagnosis of early HCC; whether they complement AFP; and what factors affect DCP, AFP-L3%, or AFP levels.

Methods

We conducted a large phase 2 biomarker case-control study in 7 academic medical centers in the United States. Controls were patients with compensated cirrhosis and cases were patients with HCC. AFP, DCP, and AFP-L3% levels were measured blinded to clinical data in a central reference laboratory.

Results

A total of 836 patients were enrolled: 417 (50%) were cirrhosis controls and 419 (50%) were HCC cases, of which 208 (49.6%) had early stage HCC (n = 77 very early, n = 131 early). AFP had the best area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.80, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.77–0.84), followed by DCP (0.72, 95% CI: 0.68–0.77) and AFP-L3% (0.66, 95% CI: 0.62–0.70) for early stage HCC. The optimal AFP cutoff value was 10.9 ng/mL leading to a sensitivity of 66%. When only those with very early HCC were evaluated, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for AFP was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.72–0.85) leading to a sensitivity of 65% at the same cutoff.

Conclusions

AFP was more sensitive than DCP and AFP-L3% for the diagnosis of early and very early stage HCC at a new cutoff of 10.9 ng/mL.

Abbreviations used in this paper: AFP, α-fetoprotein, AFP-L3%, lectin-bound α-fetoprotein, BDLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system, CT, computerized tomography, DCP, des-γ carboxyprothrombin, EDRN, National Cancer Institute Early Detection Research Network, HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma, MRI, magnetic resonance imaging, US, ultrasound