Soluble CD25 and Hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer with relatively poor overall survival all over the world. The most commonly used tools for diagnosis are ultrasonography and measurement of ? fetoprotein (AFP) in the blood. However there are limitations in this marker\'s sensitivity and specificity that necessitates the need for a biomarker that is able to detect HCC at an early stage. Soluble CD25 (sCD25) is significantly elevated in a small series of HCC patients compared to controls also a significant positive correlation between the level of sCD25 in HCC patients and the tumor stages. This work aimed to evaluate sCD25 as a marker for HCC detection and whether it correlate with tumor stage. Subjects &methods: To achieve this aim, 134 hepatic patients were recruited from tropical department and Hepatology unit, Specialized Medical Hospital, Mansoura Faculty of medicine and divided in to two groups, HCC group which comprised 90 patients with mean age 52 y (range 30 – 69 y) and Cirrhotic group which comprised 44 patients with mean age 48.5 y (range 37 – 69 y). Thirty five healthy subjects with matched age and sex were included in this study as control group. Alpha fetoprotein was measured by ELISA using (R & D systems Inc., USA). While sCD25 was assayed using (Cell Science, Inc, Bldg Canton, MA). Results: There was significant increase in sCD25 level in HCC versus control and cirrhotic groups while no significant difference in its level in cirrhotic group versus control. Also a significant increase in sCD25 was observed in stage C and stage B in comparison to stage A. By using a cut off value > 1425 pg/ml, sCD25 had a sensitivity of 64.44% and Specificity of 96.15% (AUC: 0.7959). As regard AFP, at a cut off value > 21.45 ng/ml, the sensitivity was 73.33% and the specificity was 86.36% (AUC: 0.7933). Conclusion: sCD25 distinguish HCC from appropriate controls and this marker identify the presence of HCC more effectively than AFP in patients with early tumors. The high specificity of sCD25 suggests it holds a promise as a marker for early HCC detection which is an area of unmet need. To further characterize the utility of sCD25 in detecting early stages of HCC tumor development, larger longitudinal and validation studies are planned.