Serum resistin and the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma in diabetic patients

Table 1 Summary of the clinical studies assessing serum resistin as a potential biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma

Study ID	Ref.	Study design	Number of participants (HCC/cirrhosis/control)	Age range or mean ± SD	Sex distribution	Resistin levels (ng/mL) (HCC)	Resistin levels (ng/mL) (cirrhosis)	Resistin levels (ng/mL) (control)	Main findings	Resistin as HCC biomarker
1	Elbedewy et al[30], 2014, Egypt	Prospective case-control study	25 (HCC), 25 (cirrhosis), 25 (control)	HCC: Mean 53.92 ± 5.9 yr; range 43-65 yr. Cirrhosis: Mean 52.92 ± 7.371 yr; range 40-66 yr. Control: Mean 51.4 ± 6.028 yr; range 38-63 yr	HCC: 19 males/6 females. Cirrhosis: 17 males/8 females. Control: 20 males/5 females	6.11 ± 1.6541	3.11 ± 1.5331	1.31 ± 0.31981	Patients with HCC have significantly higher mean value of resistin than cirrhotic patients and control subjects	Promising biomarker for HCC
2	Elsayed et al[33], 2015, Egypt	Prospective case-control	100 (HCC)/ 100 (cirrhosis)/ 50 (control)	52.3 (HCC), 52.2 (cirrhosis), 51 (control)	85% male (HCC), 66% male (cirrhosis)	23.8 ± 7.81	9.9 ± 2.71	7.1 ± 1.81	HCC patients had higher HOMA-IR and resistin levels; resistin and HOMA considered independent risk factors for HCC	Yes
3	Mohamed et al[32], 2018, Egypt	Prospective case-control	50 (HCC)/-/25 (control)	59.8 ± 9.6 (HCC), 57.6 ± 10.1 (control)	37 males/13 females (HCC), 18 males/7 females (control)	5.5 ± 1.71 (pre-treatment)	-	3.3 ± 1.11	Higher resistin levels in HCC patients compared to controls, and significant reduction in resistin levels after treatment	Yes
4	Ashour et al[31], 2022, Egypt	Case-control study	80 (40 HCC/40 cirrhosis/0 control)	HCC: Median 62 yr (range 18-75). Cirrhosis: Median 59 yr (range 48-72)	HCC: 23 males/17 females. Cirrhosis: 25 males/15 females	19.42	3.42	N/A	Higher serum resistin levels in HCC patients compared to cirrhotic patients; resistin > 13.7 ng/mL able to diagnose HCC with 90% sensitivity and 95% specificity	Promising biomarker for HCC

¹Data presented as mean ± SD.

²Data presented as median. Resistin was measured using ELISA in all studies listed in the table.

HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; HOMA-IR: Homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance; N/A: Not applicable.