Hepatocyte paraffin 1 and arginase-1 are effective panel of markers in HBV-related HCC diagnosis in fine-needle aspiration specimens

OBJECTIVE: In order to make successful treatment for HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma, an early diagnosis is necessary. In this research we aimed to evaluate the IHC staining pattern of Hepatocyte paraffin 1 and arginase-1 and their performance in early diagnosis of HCC. The incidence of HepPar-1 and Arg-1 were evaluated by IHC in 121 patients (HBV, HCC, HBV + HCC) and 30 healthy subjects. RESULTS: Arg-1 had significantly increased sensitivity in identification of HBV + HCC patients compared to HepPar-1 (P < 0.001). The sensitivity of arginase-1 is 96.3% whereas, the sensitivity of HepPar-1 is 72.7%. Arg-1 had higher specificity in identification of HBV + HCC patients compared to HepPar-1 (P < 0.05). With one positive marker, the sensitivity, the specificity and the positive predictive values and negative predictive value were 84.3%, 82.4%, 88.6% and 85.4% respectively. Also with one positive marker, the sensitivity and negative predictive value were significantly higher compared to the both 2 positive combinations. It was concluded that Arg-1 can improves the ability to detect HBV + HCC patients when compared with HepPar-1. When, both markers being positive, the specificity and PPVs of this combination were fairly higher. Concurrent use of these two proteins may be one of the best HCC detection patterns in needle specimens.