Protein Kinase C Delta as Novel Biomarker For HCC

Abstract Background Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and the most common primary malignant tumour of the liver. It is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the world. It occurs most commonly on top of a cirrhotic liver due multiple risk factors ranging from viral hepatitis, aflatoxin, alcohol intake, and metabolic syndrome the most prevalent of which is HCV infection. Aim of the Work This work aimed to study the relation between PKCd and AFP in HCC patients. Also, to correlate PKCd with different laboratory parameters. And finally, to evaluate the diagnostic value of PKCd in patients with HCC at early stages, alone and in combination with AFP. Patients and Methods The study was conducted on 75 subjects who were divided into three groups. Group A included 25 patients with clinically diagnosed HCC most of whom were in the early stages of HCC. (Stage 0 and stage A by BCLC staging system), group B; 25 patients with clinically diagnosed with cirrhosis and group C; 25 apparently healthy subjects as the control group. Results Our analysis showed that the mean level of PKCd was significantly higher in patients with HCC (Group A) compared to the control group with moderate elevation in cirrhotic patients. PKCd shows higher sensitivity in group A compared to AFP. Another finding is that there was a significant positive correlation (r = 0.431, p = 0.031) in patients with early-stage HCC (Group A) between PKCd and AFP. This strengthens our conclusion about the possibility of using PKCd as a novel biomarker for diagnosis of early HCC. Conclusion We propose that PKCd can be used as a potential non-invasive biomarker that has several advantages in diagnosis of HCC especially in patients with early-stage HCC as it can potentially surpass the diagnostic performance of other conventional biomarkers such as AFP in those patients.