MAGE-4 gene m-RNA and TGF in blood as potential biochemical markers for HCC in HCV-infected patients

Yousri M. Hussein, Fouad E. Morad, Magda A. Gameel, Wafaa A. Emam, Wael H. El Sawy, Shereen A. El Tarhouny, Eman S. Bayomy, Nermin Raafat

Progression from chronic hepatitis C virus infection to cirrhosis then to hepatocellular carcinoma usually results in some protein changes in peripheral blood. We evaluated MAGE-4 mRNA, TGFβ1 and AFP in peripheral blood as potential biochemical markers for diagnosis and prognosis of some complications of HCV infection. MAGE-4 mRNA in blood by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, serum TGF-Β1 and AFP by ELISA was assayed in seventy-five individuals who were classified into five groups: group I (control) comprised fifteen apparently healthy volunteers, group II involved fifteen HCV-infected patients without cirrhosis, group III involved fifteen HCV fifteen HCV-infected patients with cirrhosis, group IV included fifteen HCV-infected patients with cirrhosis and early stage HCC, and group V included fifteen HCV cirrhotic patients and late-stage HCC. We found that the frequency of positivity of MAGE-4 among the late hepatoma group was 40 %, while in the early hepatoma group the positivity was 6.7 %. The results for TGF-Β1 revealed a significant increase in serum TGF-Β1 in groups IV and V as compared to control, II, III groups. The obtained results of AFP showed a significant positive increase in serum AFP in groups IV and V when compared to groups II and III. Detection of MAGE-4 transcripts in blood, especially with follow-up survey, may help to predict the prognosis and monitoring of the response to the therapy, and serum TGF-Β1 level in HCC patients is directly correlated with metastasis and recurrence of tumors and increases gradually with the progression of HCC.