Measuring levels of osteopontin as potential biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma in Syrian patients

AIM: This study aims to evaluate plasma osteopontin (OPN) levels as a potential biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). BACKGROUND: Osteopontin (OPN) is a secreted glycoprotein that is associated with tumorigenesis and metastasis. METHODS: We measured plasma levels of OPN in 26 HCC patients, 27 patients with chronic liver diseases (CLD), and 15 healthy control individuals using a standardized ELISA kit. RESULTS: The mean plasma OPN level was significantly higher in the HCC group than the CLD group or the normal control group (p-value =0.001/<0.0001). Plasma OPN levels were significantly higher in patients with a tumor size >5 cm in diameter than those with tumors ≤5 cm (p=0.02). OPN levels in the HCC group were not significantly affected by advancing degree of Child-Pugh class. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of OPN for HCC were 61% and 82%, respectively (cut-off value: 118.69ng/mL). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) value for OPN was 0.784. However, the AUC value was 0.844 for AFP. CONCLUSION: The plasma levels of OPN show low diagnostic accuracy for HCC compared to AFP. However, OPN may have a complementary role in diagnosing HCC in patients with non-diagnostic levels of AFP.