Assessing clinical applicability of novel serological markers for early prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent liver malignancy and the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Mortality from these tumours occurs primarily due to late detection. As the diagnosis and screening of HCC currently relies on advanced imaging modalities, many patients are not screened and thus diagnosed at late stages of disease which precludes potentially curative surgical intervention. Our collaboration with Fujirebio opens new avenues for developing and implementing standardized clinical tests which will be able to identify patients with early stages of HCC.

There is a clear clinical need for accessible and reliable parameters to identify high-risk populations in order to decrease the high mortality rates. Since diagnosis mainly occurs during late stage disease only one third of the diagnosed patients is eligible for curative treatments. If we will be able to identify predictors for HCC development we would be able to diagnose patients earlier which would immensely increase treatment options and life expectancy.

Within our project we have identified 2 serum biomarkers which were able to discriminate between cirrhosis and HCC. Incorporating these biomarkers in an algorithm with age and gender showed that it performs well for both European as well as South American samples. However there is only limited additional value of the identified biomarkers in predicting which patients will develop HCC in the future. The found results will be further studied in order to be able to incorporate serum biomarkers in clinical guidelines.