Zeng JT, Wang Y, Wang Y, Luo ZH, Qing Z, Zhang Y, Zhang YL, Zhang JF, Li DW, Luo XZ. Elevated procalcitonin levels in the absence of infection in procalcitonin-secretin hepatocellular carcinoma: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2022; 10(29): 10811-10816 [PMID: 36312465 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i29.10811]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xian-Zhang Luo, MD, Surgeon, Key Laboratory for Biological Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, No. 181 Hanyu Road, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400030, China. heroluoxz@sina.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
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/
World J Clin Cases. Oct 16, 2022; 10(29): 10811-10816 Published online Oct 16, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i29.10811
Elevated procalcitonin levels in the absence of infection in procalcitonin-secretin hepatocellular carcinoma: A case report
Jian-Ting Zeng, Yu Wang, Yang Wang, Zheng-Hua Luo, Zhou Qing, Yi Zhang, Yan-Lin Zhang, Jie-Feng Zhang, De-Wei Li, Xian-Zhang Luo
Jian-Ting Zeng, Yu Wang, Yang Wang, Zheng-Hua Luo, Zhou Qing, Yi Zhang, Yan-Lin Zhang, Jie-Feng Zhang, De-Wei Li, Xian-Zhang Luo, Key Laboratory for Biological Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, Chongqing 400044, China
Author contributions: Zhang JF and Qing Z contributed to study concept and design; Li DW and Zhang Y are charge of data acquisition; Luo XZ and Zeng JT drafted the manuscript; Wang Y and Luo ZH revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; Zhang YL and Wang Y supervised the study; all authors approved the final manuscript.
Supported byDecision Consultation and Management Innovation Project of Shapingba District, Chongqing, China, No. Jcd2021013.
Informed consent statement: A written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have nothing to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xian-Zhang Luo, MD, Surgeon, Key Laboratory for Biological Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, No. 181 Hanyu Road, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400030, China. heroluoxz@sina.com
Received: July 12, 2022 Peer-review started: July 12, 2022 First decision: August 1, 2022 Revised: August 10, 2022 Accepted: September 1, 2022 Article in press: September 1, 2022 Published online: October 16, 2022 Processing time: 78 Days and 17.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Serum procalcitonin (PCT) is widely used to diagnose bacterial infection and sepsis. However, PCT may be elevated in some neoplasms. It is important to distinguish infection from no infection in such neoplasms. The relationship between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and PCT is unknown.
CASE SUMMARY
A 62-year-old male was admitted due to a hepatic lesion of unknown origin. The patient had an elevated PCT level. Infectious diseases were excluded after appropriate examination. He then underwent exploratory laparotomy and a left lateral hepatectomy was performed. The patient recovered with an uneventful postoperative course and PCT level decreased gradually and was normal on day 16. HCC was diagnosed by histopathology and no evidence of infection was observed. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analyses revealed that tumor cells were positive for PCT.
CONCLUSION
HCC cells can secrete PCT in the absence of infection and PCT may be used as a marker to monitor the efficacy of tumor therapy.
Core Tip: Serum procalcitonin (PCT) is widely used to diagnose bacterial infection and sepsis. However, PCT may be elevated in some neoplasms. It is important to distinguish infection from no infection in such neoplasms. Here, we report a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with elevated PCT and no evidence of infection. There are no reports on the association between serum PCT levels and HCC. Furthermore, tumor markers were normal in this patient and PCT levels decreased after surgery. Thus, PCT may be used as a marker to monitor the efficacy of tumor therapy.
