EVALUATION OF SOME GROWTH FACTORS AS BIOMARKERS IN PATIENTS WITH PRIMARY AND METASTATIC LIVER CANCER

Additional novel serum markers are still needed in case of malignancies such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), not only for diagnosis but also for prognosis, evaluation and follow-up of the patients. Growth factors thought to be involved in the growth of both primary and metastatic malignancies such as liver cancers include transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-α), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate their diagnostic significance as biomarkers of primary and metastatic liver cancer, their serum levels were determined by ELISA in 25 healthy persons, 25 patients with primary liver cancer and 25 patients with metastatic liver cancer. This study revealed that the serum levels of TGF-α, TGF-β1 and VEGF were significantly high (p < 0.001) in patients with primary liver cancer compared to control group. Moreover, their serum levels were much significantly higher (p < 0.001) in patients with metastatic liver cancer compared to the primary liver cancer group. These results suggest that serum levels of TGF-α, TGF-β1 and VEGF might be valuable biomarkers to predict primary cancers such as liver cancer and for predicting metastasis, as their serum levels are markedly elevated in patients with primary and metastatic malignancy.