Prediction of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development after Hepatitis C Virus Eradication Using Serum Wisteria floribunda Agglutinin-Positive Mac-2-Binding Protein

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 17; no. 12; p. 2143
• Main Authors: Sato, Shunsuke, Genda, Takuya, Ichida, Takafumi, Amano, Nozomi, Sato, Sho, Murata, Ayato, Tsuzura, Hironori, Narita, Yutaka, Kanemitsu, Yoshio, Hirano, Katsuharu, Shimada, Yuji, Iijima, Katsuyori, Wada, Ryo, Nagahara, Akihito, Watanabe, Sumio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 20.12.2016; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antigens, Neoplasm - blood; Antigens, Neoplasm - metabolism; Biomarkers; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - blood; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - diagnosis; chronic hepatitis C; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Hepacivirus; Hepatitis C virus; Hepatitis C, Chronic - therapy; hepatocellular carcinoma; Humans; Interferon-alpha - therapeutic use; Liver cancer; Liver Neoplasms - blood; Liver Neoplasms - diagnosis; Male; Membrane Glycoproteins - blood; Membrane Glycoproteins - metabolism; Middle Aged; Plant Lectins - metabolism; Polyethylene Glycols - therapeutic use; Protein Binding - physiology; Proteins; Receptors, N-Acetylglucosamine - metabolism; Recombinant Proteins - therapeutic use; Retrospective Studies; Ribavirin - therapeutic use; risk factor; Risk Factors; sustained virological response; WFA+-M2BP; Wisteria floribunda; Young Adult; WFA+-M2BP; risk factor; hepatocellular carcinoma; chronic hepatitis C; sustained virological response
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms17122143

We aimed to clarify the association between a novel serum fibrosis marker, agglutinin-positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFA⁺-M2BP), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in 355 patients with chronic hepatitis C who achieved sustained virologic response (SVR) through interferon-based antiviral therapy. Pretreatment serum WFA⁺-M2BP levels were quantified and the hazard ratios (HRs) for HCC development were retrospectively analyzed by Cox proportional hazard analysis. During the median follow-up time of 2.9 years, 12 patients developed HCC. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that high serum WFA⁺-M2BP (≥2.80 cut off index (COI), HR = 15.20, = 0.013) and high fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index (≥3.7, HR = 5.62, = 0.034) were independent risk factors for HCC development. The three- and five-year cumulative incidence of HCC in patients with low WFA⁺-M2BP were 0.4% and 0.4%, respectively, whereas those of patients with high WFA⁺-M2BP were 7.7% and 17.6%, respectively ( < 0.001). In addition, combination of serum WFA⁺-M2BP and FIB-4 indices successfully stratified the risk of HCC: the five-year cumulative incidences of HCC were 26.9%, 6.8%, and 0.0% in patients with both, either, and none of these risk factors, respectively ( < 0.001). In conclusion, pretreatment serum WFA⁺-M2BP level is a useful predictor for HCC development after achieving SVR.