Tariq Parvez, Muhammad Saeed Anwar.
Diagnostic value of Alpha-Fetoprotein in liver cancer.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;11(7):431-3.

Objective: To determine diagnostic value of alpha-fetoproteins ( a-FP) in liver cancer. Design: Prospective study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Clinical Oncology, Services Hospital, Lahore, during the period from February, 1998 to February, 2001. Subjects and Methods: Among 200 persons studied, 100 presented with liver mass, jaundice and other symptoms directing toward liver pathology, later confirmed histopathologically, as suffering from Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) while the other 100 healthy subjects came to the department for blood donation and were HBsAg positive on blood screening. All these subjects underwent blood test for a-FP This tumor marker was analyzed by using enzyme immunoassay-based kit. Results: The a-FP positivity was statistically evaluated. In HCC this test was statistically significant with p value of <0.001. In this study sensitivity of a-FP was 72%, specificity 89%, positive predictive value 86.7% and negative predictive value of 76.1 %. Conclusion: This study showed that a-FP was a useful diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of HCC.

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