The Potential Value of Novel Biomarkers: keratin 19(KRT19) and laminin beta1 (LAMB1) in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Abstract Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a global problem as it represents the 6th most common cancer worldwide and the 2nd most common cause of cancer-related deaths. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is the only clinically proven HCC biomarker up till now with limited sensitivity and specificity. Laminin B1(LAMB1) expression increases in liver cirrhosis and HCC. It was observed that in HCC malignant hepatocytes express keratin19 (KRT19). This study aims + to evaluate the potential value of both KRT19 and LAMB1 in human HCC diagnosis through the investigation of their mRNA levels in the blood sample. Methods KRT19 and LAMB1 mRNA was assessed in blood samples by total mRNA extraction, reverse transcription, and real-time PCR in comparison with AFP. 80 subjects were included in 3 groups which are the normal healthy controls (NC, n = 22), the cirrhotic patients without HCC (CC, n = 21), and HCC patients (HCC, n = 37). Results For discrimination between HCC and CC groups, KRT19 has the highest accuracy with 100% specificity and sensitivity of 89.2% among the other studied genes according to the ROC curve. To differentiate between the HCC patients and the NC group, KRT19 also has the highest accuracy with 80.95% specificity and 86.84% sensitivity. Conclusions This study indicates a potential role of KRT19 and LAMB1 mRNA expression assessment for HCC detection. KRT19 mRNA expression levels showed higher diagnostic accuracy than AFP in the diagnosis of HCC. This might help early detection of HCC patients with other routine liver markers which confers better response to treatment and lower mortality rates.