Serum DLK1 is a potential prognostic biomarker in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
Serum DLK1 is a potential prognostic biomarker in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
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血清DLK1是肝细胞癌患者潜在的预后生物标志物
DOI：
10.1007/s13277-015-3607-8
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发表时间：
2015-11-01
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Li, Jin-jun
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Li, Hong;Cui, Mei-ling;Li, Jin-jun
在发展中国家，尤其是东亚和南非，肝细胞癌是第六位最常见的癌症和第三位常见的癌症相关死亡原因，需要寻找新的生物标志物用于早期诊断和预后。DLK1在恶性肿瘤中表达，促进肿瘤细胞的干性和致瘤性，使其成为针对肿瘤干细胞/祖细胞的潜在治疗靶点。在这里，我们的目标是评估DLK1作为肝细胞癌诊断和预后生物标志物的预测价值。采用双抗体夹心酶联免疫吸附试验(EL ISA)检测了397例肝细胞癌患者、114例健康人、43例慢性乙型肝炎患者和24例肝炎后肝硬变患者血清中DLK1的水平，并探讨了DLK1与临床特征的关系。我们的数据显示，肝癌患者的血清DLK1水平显著高于健康人或慢性乙肝病毒携带者( )(P<；HBV0.05)。肝细胞癌患者血清DLK1水平与肿瘤大小、甲胎蛋白水平呈正相关，与性别、年龄、组织学分级、α感染、肝内转移及肝硬变无关。Kaplan-Meier分析表明，DLK1水平越高，肝细胞癌患者的生存期越短。提示血清DLK1水平可作为肝细胞癌患者预后的生物标志物。
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most prevalent cancer and the third most frequent cause of cancer-related death in developing countries, especially in East Asia and South Africa, and the identification of new biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis is needed. Delta-like 1 homologue (Drosophila) (DLK1) is expressed in malignancies and promotes cancer cell stemness and tumourigenicity, which makes this molecule a potential target for therapies directed against cancer stem/progenitor cells. Here, we aimed to assess the predictive value of DLK1 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in HCC. With this purpose, serum DLK1 levels were detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in serum specimens from 397 HCC patients, 114 healthy individuals, 43 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and 24 cirrhotic liver patients with HBV infection, and the correlation between DLK1 levels and clinical features was evaluated. Our data showed that the serum DLK1 level was significantly higher in HCC patients than in healthy individuals or patients with chronic HBV infection (HBV carriers) (P< 0.05). Moreover, the serum DLK1 levels were positively correlated with tumour size and α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, but not with gender, age, histological grade, HBV infection, intrahepatic metastasis or cirrhosis in HCC patients. Kaplan–Meier analysis indicated that higher DLK1 levels were associated with shorter survival in HCC patients. These results suggest that the serum levels of DLK1 may serve as a prognostic biomarker for HCC patients.