Preclinical Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Lectin Affinity Electrophoresis

Research Project

Project/Area Number	01570401
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Gastroenterology
Research Institution	Health Research Center, Kagawa University
Principal Investigator	TAKETA Kazuhisa Kagawa Univ. Health Res. Center Professor, 保健管理センター, 教授 (50033080)
Project Period (FY)	1989 – 1990
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 1990)
Budget Amount *help	¥2,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000) Fiscal Year 1990: ¥200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥200,000) Fiscal Year 1989: ¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
Keywords	hepatocellular carcinoma alpha-fetoprotein / alpha-fetoprotein / lectin affinity electrophoresis / α-フェトプロテイン / レクチン / 親和電気泳動 / 抗体親和転写法 / 画像診断 / 慢性肝炎 / 肝硬変
Research Abstract	1. Alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP) was fractionated by lectin affinity electrophoresis with lentil Lectin (LCA-A) and erythroagglutinating Phytohemagglutinin (E-PHA) on added cases of chronic hepatits, cirrhosis and Hapatocellular Carcinama (HCC). AFP-L3 and/or AFP-P4 was positive (AFP-L3 > 15%, AFP-P4 > 12%) in all the 44 patients with HCC having serum AFP levels greater than 1,000 ng/ml, in 85% of 20 HCC cases having 1,000 ng/ml - 200 ng/ml, and in 88% of 16 HCC cases having AFP below 200 ng/ml. 2. Patients, including added cases, with chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis having increased serum levels of AFP without localized lesions of the liver were analyzed for lectin reactivities of AFP by affinity electrophoresis and antibody-affinity blotting. Among 51 patients without increased proportions of lentil lectin-reactive AFP-L3 and E-PHA-reactive AFP-P4, 4 patients had HCC during the follow-up period of 1 - 2 years. On the other hand, 5 patients with increased proportions of AFP-L3 and/or AFP-P4 all had HCC within 1 year and 10 months. 3. Cirrhotic patients having non-diagnostic space-occupying lesions of the liver with increased AFP-L3 and/or AFP-P4 were Ultimately diagnosed as having HCC. 4. The results indicated that AFP-L3 and AFP-P4 could serve as preclinical markers for diagnosis, or for defining a high-risk group, of patients with HCC before localization of HCC by imaging modalities.