May 28, 2015 - Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most prevalent cancer and the third most frequent cause of cancer- related death in ...
Tumor Biol. (2015) 36:8399–8404 DOI 10.1007/s13277-015-3607-8
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Serum DLK1 is a potential prognostic biomarker in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma Hong Li 1 & Mei-ling Cui 1 & Tao-yang Chen 2 & Hai-yang Xie 3 & Ying Cui 4 & Hong Tu 1 & Fu-hua Chen 1 & Chao Ge 1 & Jin-jun Li 1
Received: 6 April 2015 / Accepted: 22 May 2015 / Published online: 28 May 2015 # International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers (ISOBM) 2015
Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most prevalent cancer and the third most frequent cause of cancerrelated death in developing countries, especially in East Asia and South Africa, and the identification of new biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis is needed. Delta-like 1 homologue (Drosophila) (DLK1) is expressed in malignancies and promotes cancer cell stemness and tumourigenicity, which makes this molecule a potential target for therapies directed against cancer stem/progenitor cells. Here, we aimed to assess the predictive value of DLK1 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in HCC. With this purpose, serum DLK1 levels were detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in serum specimens from 397 HCC patients, 114 healthy individuals, 43 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and 24 cirrhotic liver patients with HBV infection, and the correlation between DLK1 levels and clinical features was evaluated. Our data showed that the serum DLK1 level was significantly higher in HCC patients than in healthy individuals or patients with chronic HBV infection (HBV carriers) (P5
total of 169 patients (134 males and 35 females, median age 50 years, ranging from 28 to 83 years) were followed up from April 2002 to November 2010, and complete follow-up data for the patients were available. Serum samples from chronic HBV and cirrhosis patients were collected at Dahua Hospital (Shanghai, China). Chronic HBV was diagnosed using the diagnostic criteria for viral hepatitis B (WS299-2008). The sera from 114 healthy individuals were collected from Shanghai Cancer Institute. Peripheral blood samples collected from patients and controls were stored in dry tubes, and the sera were centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 min. The samples were stored at −70 °C until testing. Informed consent was obtained from each patient included in the study, and the study protocol conformed to the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki, as reflected in a prior approval by the institution’s human research committee.
Serum DLK1 detection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay Serum DLK1 concentration was detected using the Quantikine® ELISA human Pref-1/DLK-1/FA1 immunoassay according to the manufacturer’s instructions (DPRF10; R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA). The serum samples were diluted 1:5 in phosphate-buffered saline prior to detection.
Tumor Biol. (2015) 36:8399–8404
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were assessed with the log-rank test. P890.19 pg/ml), n (%)
P value represents the probability from a χ2 test for serum DLK1 levels and AFP levels AFP alpha-fetoprotein *P50 HBV infection Absent Present Tumour size (cm) ≤5 >5 Histological grade I–II III–IV Intrahepatic metastasis Absent Present Cirrhosis Absent Present
P value represents the probability from a χ2 test for serum DLK1 levels between variable subgroups *P
