A collaborative study for the evaluation of a serologic test for primary liver cancer

Abstract

Sera from 813 patients were examined independently by 3 test centers for the presence of alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP). The sera were collected at 5 different African centers and 2 non‐African centers. There was disagreement in the serologic results among the 3 test laboratories in only 27, or 3.3%, of cases. A clinical and/or histologic diagnosis of primary liver cancer had been made in 231 of the cases in which there was serologic agreement, and 151, or 65.4%, of these were positive for AFP. If only those cases with histologic confirmation of liver cell cancer were included, the percentage of cases with AFP increases to 75%. Analysis of the results from each collection center has been made, and the basis for “false‐positives” and serologic disagreements is discussed. The test has proven to be highly specific for primary liver cell cancer and may be used with advantage in differential diagnosis of this disease and in epidemiologic studies.

Serum tumour markers in lung cancer: history, biology and clinical applications

“…The a-(1-3)-L-fucosyltransferase is one of the glycosyltransferases thought to be responsible for the synthesis of tumour-associated antigens [128][129][130]. The accumulation of tumour-associated antigens, such as carcinoembryonic antigen and sialyl Lewis χ-i, has frequently been observed in the sera of patients with lung cancer [131][132][133]. Recently, ASAO et al [134] performed a clinical evaluation of a-(1-3)-L-fucosyltransferase.…”

Serum levels of des-?-carboxy prothrombin measured using the revised enzyme immunoassay kit with increased sensitivity in relation to clinicopathologic features of solitary hepatocellular carcinoma

“…1 Diagnosis of HCC at an early stage is of great importance during the follow-up of patients with chronic liver diseases due to the high incidence of HCC in association with cirrhosis. 2 Accordingly, determination of serum levels of ␣-fetoprotein (AFP) [3][4][5][6] and des-␥-carboxy prothrombin (DCP), [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] along with ultrasonography, has been performed widely. Recently, measurement of lectinreactive AFP fractions has also begun, 16,17 and its usefulness in not only diagnosing HCC but also assessing responsiveness to treatment has been reported.…”

Carbohydrate structures of human α-fetoprotein of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: presence of fucosylated and non-fucosylated triantennary glycans

“…The measurement of the serum concentration of a-fetoprotein (AFP) has been used extensively for the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during a follow-up process of chronic liver diseases (Abelev, 1986;O'Conor et al, 1970;Nishi & Hirai, 1973). However, the serum concentration of AFP also increases in patients with carcinomas of digestive organs which metastasise to the liver (Alpert et al, 1971;Mcintire et al, 1975) and with nonneoplastic diseases of the liver (Karvountzis & Redeker, 1974;Alpert & Feller, 1978).…”