BACKGROUND Serum AFP levels are typically elevated in less than 50% of hepatocellular cancer (HCC) patients. Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) levels have been suggested to be a potentially useful HCC biomarker. AIMS To assess in a cohort of prospectively evaluated HCC patients who underwent liver transplant and whose survival was known; the occurrence, prognosis, and clinical characteristics of patients with elevated serum GGT levels. RESULTS Serum GGT levels were found to be elevated in a higher proportion in patients with either small or large HCC than alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, and were significantly related to prognosis in patients with large size HCCs. There was no clear correlation between GGT and AFP levels, likely reflecting different HCC characteristics or HCC cell lineages associated with these two markers. Furthermore, elevated GGT was found in 24% of low-AFP patients with small tumors and 46% with large tumors. Elevated GGT levels were also significantly associated with microvascular invasion and tumor diameter. CONCLUSIONS Elevated serum GGT levels were associated with HCC size and worse survival, and were unrelated to AFP levels. GGT may be a useful prognostic tumor marker, especially for low-AFP HCC patients.

中文翻译：

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γ-谷氨酰转肽酶作为肝细胞癌特别是> 5 cm肿瘤的肝细胞癌患者的预后生物标志物。

背景技术在少于50％的肝细胞癌（HCC）患者中，血清AFP水平通常升高。γ-谷氨酰转肽酶（GGT）水平被认为是潜在有用的HCC生物标志物。目的在一组经过前瞻性评估的肝癌患者中进行肝移植并且已知生存率的评估；血清GGT水平升高的患者的发生，预后和临床特征。结果发现，无论大小，肝癌患者血清GGT的含量均高于甲胎蛋白（AFP），并且与大肝癌患者的预后显着相关。在GGT和AFP水平之间没有明确的相关性，可能反映了与这两种标记物相关的不同的HCC特征或HCC细胞谱系。此外，在患有小肿瘤的低AFP患者中有24％发现了GGT，而在大肿瘤中有46％发现了GGT。GGT水平升高也与微血管浸润和肿瘤直径显着相关。结论血清GGT水平升高与HCC大小和较差的生存率有关，与AFP水平无关。GGT可能是有用的预后肿瘤标志物，尤其是对于低AFP肝癌患者。