MAGE-1 and MAGE-3 mRNA expressions as molecular biomarkers in patients with hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

IntroductionThe melanoma antigen (MAGE) family members are tumour-specifi c antigens exclusively expressed in neoplastic cells. Therefore, the present work was designed to study the expression of MAGE-1 and MAGE-3 mRNAs in the peripheral blood and cancerous tissues of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods 30 patients with HCV-related cirrhosis (15 patients with HCC and 15 patients without HCC) and 15 healthy subjects were enrolled in the present study. Expression of MAGE-1 and MAGE-3 mRNAs in peripheral blood samples, HCC specimens and surrounding non-neoplastic liver tissues, were studied by a reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) with the specifi c primers after RNA extraction. The sensitivity and specifi city of MAGE-1 and MAGE-3 mRNAs as markers for diagnosis of HCC have been assessed by plotting a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results In HCC patients, the positive rate of MAGE-1 and MAGE-3 mRNA expression was 53.3% and 33.3% in peripheral blood samples respectively, while the positive rate was 53.3% and 40.0% in HCC tissue samples, respectively. By contrast, MAGE-1 and MAGE-3 mRNA were not detected in the adjacent non-neoplastic liver tissues or in the peripheral blood samples of cirrhotic patients without HCC and healthy subjects. No relationship was found between MAGE-1 and

EVALUATION OF MAGE-3 GENE m-RNA IN BLOOD AS POTENTIAL BIOCHEMICAL MARKER FOR HCC PATIENTS

“…Our results are in agreement with those previously reported that in HCC patients, the positive rate of MAGE-3 mRNA expression was 33.3% in peripheral blood samples and were not detected in the adjacent non-neoplastic liver tissues or in the peripheral blood samples of cirrhotic patients without HCC and healthy subjects (9) .…”