Abstract:

Objective To investigate the levels of alpha-fetoprotein （AFP）,carcinoembryonic antigen （CEA） and carbohydrate antigen 199（CA199） in the carcinogenesis course of liver diseases and their prognostic significance. Methodse A total of 30 healthy subjects （healthy control group）,38 patients with chronic hepatitis B,12 patients with hepatic cirrhosis,42 patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma （PHC）and 12 patients with metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma were enrolled. The levels of AFP,CEA and CA199 were determined. The changes of AFP,CEA and CA199 were determined before operation for 1 d and after operation for 4 weeks and 8 weeks. Results The AFP levels of healthy control,chronic hepatitis B,hepatic cirrhosis,PHC and metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma groups were （11.2±59.87） μg/L,（27.9±17.83） μg/L,（68.91±19.87）μg/L,（668.18±260.74）μg/L and （414.64±170.33） μg/L. The levels of CEA were （2.72±1.21） μg/mL,（2.36±1.43）μg/mL,（4.09±1.67）μg/mL,（16.36±10.68） μg/mL and （31.91±17.44）μg/mL. The CA199 levels were （27.36±7.6）U/L,（18.19±6.6）U/L,（26.54±5.76） U/L,（59.09±18.67）U/L and （51.63±12.89） U/L. The positive rates for the combined determination of AFP,CEA and CA199 were 3.33%,15.79%,58.33%,88.09% and 84.62% in healthy control,chronic hepatitis B,hepatic cirrhosis,PHC and metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma groups. The AFP and CEA levels in recurrence group were （397.17±201.29）μg/Land （29.12±16.78） μg/mL（P<0.05）,which were higher than those in non-recurrence group [（113.3±68.48） μg/L and （4.82±1.25） μg/mL]. Conclusions The combined determination of AFP,CEA and CA199 can improve the diagnosis rate of hepatocellular carcinoma,and it can be used for the diagnosis of PHC and metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma. AFP and CEA are of prognostic significance.

Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma, Alpha-fetoprotein, Carcinoembryonic antigen, Carbohydrate antigen