Suhail Ahmed Almani, Abdul Sattar Memon, Rafi Ahmed Ghori, Jawed Memon, Abdul Fatah Qureshi.
Alpha-Fetoprotein as a diagnostic tool in differntiating Hepatocellular Carcinoma from benign hepatic disorders.
J Liaquat Uni Med Health Sci Jan ;3(1):7-12.

OBJECTIVE: Differential diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from benign lesions of the liver is often difficult yet of great clinical importance. In the present study, we analysed diagnostic value of alpha-fetoproteins in hepato- cellular carcinoma. DESIGN: A descriptive study SETTING: Department of Internal Medicine, Liaquat University Hospital, Jamshoro, Sindh from February 2000 to December 2002. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Total 200 persons were studied. 100 presented with liver mass and other symptoms directing toward liver pathology, later confirmed histopathologically, as suffering from HCC while the other 100 subjects came to the department with jaundice and were HbsAg and anti-HCV positive on blood screening. All these subjects underwent blood test for alpha-fetoprotein. This tumor marker was analyzed by using enzyme immunoassay-based kit. RESULTS: The alpha-fetoprotein positivity was statistically evaluated. In HCC, this test was statistically significant with p value of <0.001. In this study sensitivity of alpha-fetoprotein was 72%, specificity 89%, positive predictive value 86.7% and negative predictive value of 76.1%. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that alpha-fetoprotein has the potential to differentiate between benign and malignant liver diseases and it is a useful tool in the diagnosis of HCC.

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