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VIDEO: Blood-based panel detects early-stage liver cancer

BOSTON — In this exclusive video from The Liver Meeting 2019, Naga P. Chalasani, MD, from the Indiana University School of Medicine, discusses the accuracy of combined methylated DNA and protein markers for early-stage detection of hepatocellular carcinoma.

“Hepatocellular carcinoma is the fourth most common cause of death worldwide and many patients present at a late stage and, thus, you cannot offer effective treatments,” Chalasani told Healio Gastroenterology and Liver Disease. “Currently, we use alpha-fetoprotein and ultrasound every 6 months [for screening]; however, their performance to detect early cancer is suboptimal.

To determine the accuracy of blood-based testing, Chalasani and colleagues collected blood samples from 137 patients diagnosed radiographically with HCC and 313 age-matched controls with benign liver disease without structurally apparent HCC.

With specificity set at 90%, the researchers identified a six-marker panel that comprised four methylated DNA markers and two protein markers — alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and lectin-bound AFP. The panel had a higher sensitivity (71% vs. 21%) and area under the receiver operating curve (0.91 vs. 0.7) for early-stage HCC than AFP 20 ng/mL.

Reference: Chalasani NP. Abstract 0109. Presented at: The Liver Meeting; Nov. 7-12, 2019; Boston.

Disclosure: Chalasani reports no relevant financial disclosures. The study was funded by Exact Sciences.