Serum vascular endothelial growth factor as a tumor marker for hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis C virus-related cirrhotic patients

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 8.2% of all cancer-related deaths worldwide. Being a vascular tumor, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a vital role in HCC pathogenesis, growth, and spread. AIM: To determine the accuracy of serum VEGF and VEGF/platelet (PLT) as tumor markers in the early detection of HCC cases in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver cirrhosis. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study with HCV patients from the outpatient and inpatient hepatology clinics. Patients were classified into three groups: (1) HCC group; (2) Cirrhosis group; and (3) HCV without cirrhosis (control group). Patients were clinically evaluated, and blood samples were drawn for the analysis; serum VEGF levels were measured by a specific VEGF human recombinant enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Data from the three study groups were compared by the one-way analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis test. Receivers operating characteristic curves were constructed to determine the optimal cut-off values of alpha fetoprotein (AFP), VEGF, and VEGF/PLT that provided the best diagnostic accuracy. The sensitivity and specificity at the optimal cut-off value of each biomarker were then calculated. RESULTS: This study included one hundred patients (HCC, cirrhosis, and control groups: n = 40, 30, 30, respectively). HCC patients had significantly higher serum VEGF and VEGF/PLT levels than the non-HCC groups (P = 0.001). Serum VEGF and VEGF/PLT showed significant positive correlations with and HCC tumor size, stage, vascular invasion, and Child-Pugh classification. Moreover, a VEGF cut-off the value of 250 pg/mL provided 80% sensitivity and 81.7% specificity for discriminating HCC patient from non-HCC patients. Similarly, the ratio of VEGF/PLT provided sensitivity and specificity of 77.5% and 80%, respectively which is higher than the accuracy provided by AFP. The combination of AFP, VEGF, and VEGF/PLT increases the accuracy of diagnosing HCC to > 95%. CONCLUSION: In HCV patients, serum VEGF and VEGF/PLT separately or in combination with AFP are reliable biomarkers for early and accurate HCC diagnosis.