Usefulness of serum des-γ-carboxy prothrombin in detection of hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Clinical characteristics of 127 patients with different stages of liver disease

	Chronic hepatitis(n = 32)	Cirrhosis(n = 34)	HCC(n = 61)	P
Age (yr/o)	52+10	57+12	63+13	<0.001a
Male/female	2.2	2.8	3.4	NS
Positive for HBsAg	17	18	28	NS
Positive for anti-HCV	15	13	24	NS
Positive for both HBsAg and anti-HCV	0	1	4
Negative for both HBsAg and anti-HCV	0	2	4
DCP level (mAu/mL), mean+SD	21+9	33+14	2 808+6216	<0.001a
AFP level (ng/mL), mean+SD	15+24	13+14	54 174+296 329	NS

^aP<0.05, HCC vs chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. HBsAg: hepatitis B surface antigen; anti-HCV: antibody to hepatitis C virus; DCP: des-γ-carboxy prothrombin; AFP: α-fetoprotein.

Table 2 Diagnostic values of DCP and AFP for the detection of HCC

Groups	Case number	DCP			AFP			DCP/AFP
		40 mAU/mL			20 ng/mL			DCP 40 mAU/mL or AFP 20 ng/mL
		Positive		Negative	Positive		Negative	Positive		Negative
Nonmalignant liver disease
Chronic hepatitis	32	2		30	6		26	8		24
Cirrhosis	34	7		27	9		25	13		21
HCC	61	47		14	36		25	51		10
Overall accuracy (%)			81.9			68.5			75.6
Sensitivity			77.0			59.0			83.6
Specificity			86.4			77.3			68.2
Positive prediction rate			83.9			70.6			70.8
Negative prediction rate			80.3			67.1			81.8

DCP: des-γ-carboxy prothrombin; AFP: α-fetoprotein; HCC: hepatocellular carcinoma