Application of serum AFP-L3 variants assay for differential diagnosis of liver disease

Objective To evaluate the clinical significance of serum AFP heterogeneity(AFP-L3) assay in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and chronic hepatitis.Methods Lentil lectin-binding serum AFP-L3 variants were separated by microcentrifugal column,and the content percentage of AFP-L3(AFP-L3%) variants and total serum AFP was detected by chemiluminescence analysis.Results When AFP-L3%10% was used as a positive criterion,there was a positive rate of 72.3% with AFP-L3% in 47 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC),which in cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis were 0.0% and 1.8%,respectively.AFP and AFP-L3 levels were higher in hepatocellular carcinoma than those in other chronic hepatitis(P0.01).While using the traditional criterion(AFP20μg/L),the AFP positive rates were 85.1%,35.7% and 37.8% in HCC,cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis respectively.The sensitivity of AFP-L3 was 72.3%,which was lower than that of AFP(85.1%),while the speciality of AFP-L3 was 97.2%,which was higher than that of AFP(55.4%).Conclusion AFP-L3 is very useful in the differential diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.