Evaluation of Apoptotic Marker Bcl2, CD4+, Human Hepatocyte Growth Factor and Metalloproteinase-9 as Tumor Markers for Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

To examine the possible involvement of human B cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), CD4+ cells, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), as biomarkers in early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), activities of these biomarkers in serum were demonstrated by the method of Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay. Two groups of subjects (60 for each), were examined in this study; healthy controls and patients with HCC. The present results declare that, significant decrease in Bcl-2 (p ≤ 0.0001), and CD 4+ (p ≤ 0.001), while significant increase in HGF and MMP-9 (p ≤ 0.05). These findings imply an influence of these biomarkers by the existence of hepatic carcinoma that might reflect the progression of disease and a distinction between the pathological mechanisms involved in hepatic carcinoma. Since, the serum MMP-9 activity was significantly varied between each stage of HCC. An individual profile of the present investigated parameters was detected that might serve as an easy accessing serum marker to monitor the progression of hepatic cell disorders.