Clinical applications of squamous cell carcinoma antigen-immunoglobulins M to monitor chronic hepatitis C

Table 1 Sensitivity and specificity (%) of various biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis

Biomarker	Sensitivity	Specificity
SCCA-IgM[57]	52-89	50-82
AFP[58]	41-65	80-94
Osteopontin[58]	87	82
DCP[58]	23-89	95
AFP-L3[58]	37-60	90-92

AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; SCCA-IgM: Squamous cell carcinoma antigen-immunoglobulins M.

Table 2 Overview of the main observations on squamous cell carcinoma antigen-immunoglobulins M behaviour in clinical settings

Ref.	Main observation
SCCA-IgM in monitoring chronic liver disease
Biasiolo et al[44]	Significant increase of SCCA-IgM levels over time in 75% of untreated patients with chronic hepatitis and with histologically proven liver disease progression (fibrosis score increase ≥ 2) after six years of follow-up
Martini et al[46]	In patients with chronic hepatitis C, SCCA-IgM was found an independent predictor of histologically proven non alcoholic steatohepatitis
SCCA-IgM and antiviral treatment
Giannini et al[48]	In chronic hepatitis C treatment with standard therapy, only patients who achieved sustained viral response showed a significant decrease in median values of SCCA-IgM up to one year of follow-up
Fransvea et al[49]	Reduction of SCCA-IgM levels during the first month of standard antiviral therapy was an independent predictor of sustained viral response
Martini et al[46]	Significant reduction of SCCA-IgM, lasting up to 6 mo of follow-up, was observed only in HCV-positive patients with sustained response to standard therapy
SCCA-IgM in diagnosis and prognosis of HCC
Pontisso et al[51]	Significant increase over time of SCCA-IgM only in patients with early cirrhosis (histologically proven) who developed HCC within four years of follow up
Buccione et al[52]	In HCV-positive patients with overt cirrhosis, SCCA-IgM negativity (cut off ≤ 200 AU/mL) accurately identified patients at low risk of liver cancer development in the subsequent year
Beneduce et al[24]	SCCA-IgM showed higher sensitivity for the diagnosis of HCC, compared to AFP
Pozzan et al[53]	In patients with HCC, SCCA-IgM levels were found an independent predictor of survival. A reduction in SCCA-IgM levels was correlated with response to HCC treatment

HCV: Hepatitis C virus; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; SCCA-IgM: Squamous cell carcinoma antigen-immunoglobulins M.