Evaluation of relationships between clinical and radiological characteristics and tumor markers in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate AFP, CEA and CA 19-9 levels in patients with HCC and non-HCC cirrhosis, and also toinvestigate the relationship between tumor radiological and clinical characteristics and these markers.Material and Methods: 572 patients with cirrhosis who were followed for cirrhosis between January 2010 and January 2019 in thegastroenterology outpatient clinic of Demiroglu Bilim University Faculty of Medicine were included in the study. Demographic (age,gender, BMI), laboratory (AFP, CEA, CA 19-9) and imaging findings of the cases were retrospectively screened and recorded. Thepatients were divided into two main groups as HCC and without HCC.Results: In the study, 252 patients were HCC and 320 patients were non-HCC. AFP values and male gender ratio were higher in HCCgroup, whereas CEA and CA 19-9 values were similar between the two groups. (respectively, p <0.001; p <0.013; p=0.157; p=0.294). Asignificant positive correlation was found between tumor size and AFP levels, but no correlation was found between CEA and CA 19-9and tumor sizes. (for AFP r=0.202, p <0.001). CEA level was significantly higher in patients with macrovascular invasion (p =0.011).Conclusion: In our study, positive correlation was found between tumor size and AFP levels in patients with HCC, and a significantcorrelation was found between CEA and macrovascular invasion. Our study showed that AFP and CEA are valuable markers that canbe used to determine prognosis and survival in HCC patients.