Objective: To evaluate the clinical value of serum tissue polypeptide specific antigen (TPS) for primary hepatic cancer in comparison with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP).
Methods: TPS and AFP were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 85 patients with primary hepatic cancer, 19 with metastatic hepatic cancer, 35 with liver cirrhosis, 22 with chronic hepatitis and 50 healthy control subjects.
Results: Serum AFP levels were elevated in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in comparison with that in cholangiocarcinoma patients (P=0.037), but the difference was not significant (P=0.737). Serum TPS levels were significantly correlated with the tumor size (P=0.001), but not with the number of the tumors, portal invasion, extrahepatic metastasis, clinical stage or histological differentiation (P>0.05). A significant correlation was observed between AFP level and tumor size (P=0.028), portal invasion(P=0.005), and histological differentiation (P=0.000).
Conclusion: TPS alone offers no more clues than AFP for the diagnosis of primary hepatic cancer, though it can be helpful for the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma. It has only limited clinical utility as a marker for primary hepatic cancer.