Relationship between expression levels of AFP mRNA in peripheral blood and clinical parameters in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Obiective To detect AFP mRNA expression in peripheral blood of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) and to explore the relationship between AFP mRNA and different clinical parameters. Methods Real time RT-PCR was used to detect AFP mRNA expression in peripheral blood from 56 patients with HCC,17 patients with chronic hepatitis,21 patients with cirrhosis and 20 normal healthy volunteers. Results The expression levels of AFP mRNA in peripheral blood of 56 HCC were 34644.6±94905.4 copies/μgRNA,in which 29 were positive. AFP mRNA was not detected in 17 chronic hepatitis,21 cirrhosis and 20 normal healthy volunteers. Conclusions There is close relationship among AFP mRNA and the stages of HCC,portal vein thrombosis and extrahepatic metastasis.The presence of AFP mRNA in peripheral blood may be used as an indicator of circulating HCC cells,which might be a valuable marker for predicting hematogenous spreading metastasis of HCC.