Serum Procalcitonin: A Novel Tumor Biomarker for Diagnosis and Follow-Up in Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC) is a rare primary liver cancer that predominantly affects young patients with normal known serum tumor biomarkers (alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and CA19-9). An observation of a markedly elevated procalcitonin (PCT) in one patient prompted us to investigate the potential role of PCT as a biomarker in a larger cohort of FLC.

Methods

We measured serum PCT levels in 34 samples from 18 patients with metastatic FLC and in 64 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 24 with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), and 20 with cirrhosis. Using RNA sequencing, we analyzed CALCA expression, the gene encoding PCT, in 27 FLC tumors, 331 HCC tumors, 39 CCA tumors, 71 hepatoblastomas, 34 hepatocellular adenomas, and 55 non-tumor liver samples. Spatial tr

SUBMITTER: Nault JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12668107 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature