COMBINATION OF DES-GAMMA CARBOXY-PROTHROMBIN AND ALPHA-FETOPROTEIN IMPROVES THE ABILITY TO DETECT HEPATOCELLULAR CANCERS WITH HIGH RISK FOR RECURRENCE IN A EUROPEAN SETTING
The role of des-gamma carboxy-prothrombin (DCP) has been investigated in Asian countries, mainly Japan and South Korea, with the intent to improve the prognostic ability in the specific setting of liver transplantation (LT) and hepatic resection (HR) in patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC).
However, only a limited number of studies has been published in western countries. Moreover, no information exists on the additive role of CDP and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) as prognosticators of tumor aggressiveness. Recently, the model to predict tumor recurrence after living donor liver transplantation (MoRAL) score has been proposed in Korea, with the intent to investigate this specific field.
The aim of the present study is to investigate in a European setting the role of tumor-, liver- and inflammation-related markers as prognosticators of HCC aggressiveness, with particular attention to the combined role of AFP/DCP.