Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Jul 18, 2015; 7(14): 1834-1842
Published online Jul 18, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i14.1834
Circulating biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma response after locoregional treatments: New insights
Maria Tampaki, Polyxeni P Doumba, Melanie Deutsch, John Koskinas
Maria Tampaki, Polyxeni P Doumba, Melanie Deutsch, John Koskinas, Academic Department of Medicine, Medical School of Athens, Hippokration General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Author contributions: Tampaki M, Doumba PP, Deutsch M and Koskinas J contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest is declared by any of the authors.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: John Koskinas, MD, PhD, Academic Department of Medicine, Medical School of Athens, Hippokration General Hospital, Vas. Sofias 114, 11527 Athens, Greece. koskinasj@yahoo.gr
Telephone: +30-21-32088641 Fax: +30-21-32088641
Received: April 8, 2015
Peer-review started: April 9, 2015
First decision: April 27, 2015
Revised: June 24, 2015
Accepted: July 11, 2015
Article in press: July 14, 2015
Published online: July 18, 2015
Processing time: 107 Days and 17 Hours
Abstract

Hepatocellular cancer is the 5th most common cancer in the world and the third cause of death by malignant disease. Locoregional therapies are the most usual treatment of choice for patients with early or intermediate stage of disease. The main diagnostic tools for the detection of recurrence are the radiological techniques such as 4-phase computed tomography or dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. However, in order to achieve best evaluation of treatment outcome and recurrence rates, there is a great need for the identification of specific and easily measured circulating biomarkers. The aim of this review is to analyze the existing data considering the prognostic significance of changes of serum diagnostic markers such as alpha-fetoprotein, des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin, alpha-fetoprotein-L3, angiogenetic factors (vascular endothelial growth factor, hypoxia inducible factor-1a) and immune parameters before and after radiofrequency ablation or transarterial chemoembolization.

Keywords: Radiofrequency ablation; Transarterial chemoembolization; Hepatocellular cancer; Circulating biomarkers; Prognosis

Core tip: Hepatocellular cancer is the 5th most common cancer in the world and the third cause of death by malignant disease. Locoregional therapies are available for patients with early or intermediate stage of disease. However even with these techniques recurrence rates are high. The use of accurate prognostic biomarkers is of great importance in order to select the most suitable-personalised treatment. The aim of this review is to analyze the existing data regarding circulating biomarkers measured before and after locoregional therapies and their effect on treatment outcome.