Development and Validation of a Lectin-independent Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for Serum Glycosylated Alpha-fetoprotein Analysis and Comparison with a Liquid-phase Binding Assay.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and its isoform AFP-L3 are well-established serum biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a common malignancy and a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Current methods for measuring these biomarkers are primarily lectin-based assays including the liquid-phase binding assay (LiBA) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), both of which have limitations in diagnostic sensitivity and clinical utility for samples with low AFP concentrations. We aimed to develop a lectin-independent LC-MS/MS method for quantifying fucosylated AFP proteins (AFP-Fuc%).

Methods

We conducted analytical validation, including method comparisons, over 2 months. The analytical sensitivity and diagnostic performance of this me

SUBMITTER: Kim H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12698247 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature