Background: Early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most important step in successful treatment. However, it is usually rare due to the lack of a highly sensitive specific biomarker so that the HCC is usually fatal within few months after diagnosis. The aim of this work was to study the role of plasma nuclear factor kappa B (NF-?B) and serum peroxiredoxin 3 (PRDX3) as diagnostic biomarkers for early detection of HCC in a high-risk population.
Materials and methods: Plasma nuclear factor kappa B level (NF-?B) and serum peroxiredoxin 3 (PRDX3) levels were measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), in addition to alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in 72 cirrhotic patients, 64 patients with HCC and 29 healthy controls.
Results: NF-?B and PRDX3 were significantly elevated in the HCC group in relation to the others. Higher area under curve (AUC) of 0.854 (for PRDX3) and 0.825 (for NF-?B) with sensitivity of 86.3% and 84.4% and specificity of 75.8% and 75.4% respectively, were found compared to AUC of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) (0.65) with sensitivity of 72.4% and specificity of 64.3%.
Conclusions: NF-?B and PRDX3 may serve as early and sensitive biomarkers for early detection of HCC facilitating improved management. The role of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-?B) as a target for treatment of liver fibrosis and HCC must be widely evaluated.