The clinical value of measurement of serum HGF content in patients of BTCC

Purpose:To explore the clinical value of measurement of the serum content of HGF in BTCC patients. Methods:Serum samples of BTCC patients (n=45) were examined for HGF content measurement by the quantitative EIA. Also serum HGF contents were measured in the control groups, which included 10 cases undergoing surgical procedure previously for BTCC but now being without tumor recurrence, 9 cases of precancerous lesions, 11 cases of other urological diseases and 14 healthy volunteers.Results:The level of total HGF in BTCC group was significantly higher than that in other groups and the contents of HGF increased with tumour grade and stage increment. No significant differences of serum HGF contents was seen between the primary tumors and recurrent tumors.Conclusions:The contents of total HGF in serum of BTCC patients was significantly increased and closely related to the invasive behavior of the tumours. HGF may be a new useful tumour marker for screening and monitoring BTCC patients.