Role of Serum Alpha-1-Acid Glycoprotein as a New Biomarker for Cirrhotic and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients

Abstract Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide, it is the second leading cause of malignancy related mortality all over the world and is primarily due to the hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic. Aim of the Work to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum AAG level as a novel biomarker for HCC and cirrhotic patients Patients and Methods This study was conducted on ninety cases chosen from El Demerdash hospital (Ain Shams University) divided into three groups group (A) ten normal control people, group (B) forty known HCC patients which was further subdivided into two small subgroups B (I) twenty with low AFP level and B (II) twenty with high AFP level, as well as forty patients with liver cirrhosis group (C) during the period from June 2022 to December 2022. Results The mean value of AAG in HCC low AFP cases was 1307 μg/ml which was higher than that of patients with HCC high AFP (850 μg/ml) and chronic liver disease patients (309 μg/ml). AAG as a diagnostic marker for HCC the cut-off value was 740 ng/ml with sensitivity 73% and specificity 74% for HCC low AFP, which was higher than that of patients with HCC high AFP sensitivity 68% and specificity 71%. Conclusion Alpha 1 Acid Glycoprotein had better performance in diagnosing HCC patients with low AFP. Serum Alpha 1 Acid Glycoprotein (AAG) concentrations can used as a potential marker for hepatocellular carcinoma.