Low utility of plasma Nociceptin/orphanin FQ in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Clinical-Demographic characteristics of the populations studied

	HCC	Cirrhosis	Controls
Number of patients	28	30	25
Mean age ± SD (yr)	70 ± 4.8	65.3 ± 11.1	35.4 ± 13.9
Male/Female	20/8	21/9	10/15
Etiology n (%)
HCV	24 (85.8)	15 (50)
HBV	-	3 (10)
Alcohol	2 (7.1)	8 (26.7)
Cryptogenic	2 (7.1)	4 (13.3)
Child – Pugh score n (%)
A	22 (78.6)	19 (63.3)
B	6 (21.4)	7 (23.3)
C		4 (13.3)
Patients with pain (%)	4 (14.3)	5 (16.6)	6 (24)
HCC diameter min-max (cm)	1.2-12.5

HCV: Hepatitis C virus; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Table 2 Laboratory parameters included in the statistical analysis

Mean values ± SD	HCC	Cirrhosis	Controls
α-FP (ng/mL)	346 ± 461b	9.2 ± 8	3.9 ± 0.4
N/OFQ (pg/mL)	728 ± 1460	515 ± 1205	138 ± 493
Aspartate aminotransferase (U/L)	60 ± 28.5	54 ± 35	26 ± 9
Alanine aminotransferase (U/L)	37 ± 15	53 ± 50.5	33 ± 10.5
γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (U/L)	111 ± 58	78 ± 60	28 ± 11
Alkaline phosphatase (U/L)	325 ± 113.5	285 ± 185	122 ± 75
Cholinesterase (U/L)	3695 ± 1910	4105 ± 2891	9680 ± 2899
Bilirubin (mg/dL)	1.6 ± 1.3	3.7 ± 7	0.5 ± 0.3
Albumin (g/dL)	3.2 ± 0.4	3.4 ± 0.6	3.7 ± 0.4
Lactic dehydrogenase (U/L)	418 ± 53.5	347 ± 89	263 ± 78
Creatine phosphokinase (U/L)	136 ± 61	72 ± 18	87 ± 52
Amylases (U/L)	107 ± 19	90 ± 33	76 ± 45
Blood urea (mg/dL)	44 ± 16	71 ± 42.5	32 ± 11
Creatinine (mg/dL)	1.1 ± 0.3	1.2 ± 0.5	0.9 ± 0.2
Na (mmol/L)	135 ± 3.8	136 ± 6.8	139 ± 5.1
K (mmol/L)	4.4 ± 0.3	4.5 ± 0.5	4.3 ± 0.5
Ca (mg/dL)	9.1 ± 0.5	8.7 ± 0.4	4.9 ± 0.3
Red blood cells (106/mm3)	3.8 ± 0.6	1.9 ± 1.7	4.2 ± 0.2
With blood cells (103/mm3)	4.9 ± 2	5 ± 1.8	7 ± 1.3
Hemoglobin (g%)	11.7 ± 1.5	10.6 ± 2.2	13.6 ± 0.9
Platelets (103/mm3)	116 ± 48	99 ± 47	249 ± 58
Blood glucose (mg/dL)	96 ± 14	111 ± 38	78 ± 11
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (mm)	66.6 ± 17.7	49.4 ± 17.1	7.4 ± 4.1
C-reactive protein (mg/L)	18.4 ± 29.7	10.3 ± 9.7	2.7 ± 1.4
Internationl Normalized Ratio	1.22 ± 0.2	1.31 ± 0.3	0.8 ± 0.1
Fibrinogen (mg/L)	288 ± 103	243 ± 68	291 ± 93

^bP < 0.001 vs cirrhosis and controls.

Table 3 Diagnostic accuracy tests

	N/OFQ		α-FP
Sensitivity % (CI)	21.4	(0.06 - 0.36)	46.4	(0.29 - 0.64)
Specificity % (CI)	76.7	(0.61 - 0.91)	100	(0.88 - 1.00)
Positive predictive value % (CI)	46.2	(0.19 - 0.73)	100	(0.77 - 1.00)
Negative predictive value % (CI)	51.1	(0.36 - 0.65)	66.7	(0.52 - 0.78)
Positive likelihood ratio (CI)	0.92	(0.35 - 2.40)	∞	(4.01 - ∞)
Negative likelihood ratio (CI)	1.02	(0.77 - 1.35)	0.53	(0.33 - ∞)