1Mohamed A. Ali, 2Bothina A. Koura 3Noha El-Mashad and 3Mohammed H. Eldeen Zaghloul
departments of 1Hepatology, Gastroenterology and Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Benha, Zagazig University, 2Microbiology department, Faculty of Medicine, Menofiya University and 3Clinical Pathology department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University.
Relatively little is known about the biochemical mechanisms controlling proliferation and neoplastic transformation of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of study was to determine the level of the oncoproteins Bcl-2, transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF- β 1) and alpha fetoprotein (AFP) in serum of patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), and liver cirrhosis (LC) as compared to HCC as a biomarkers of malignant transformation and early detection of suspected patients. A total of forty-three patients were included, 30 of them were males and 13 females, their ages ranged from 29-66 years (49.37± 8.35). Increased levels of Bcl-2 were found in liver cirrhosis and HCC groups as compared to CHC and control groups (P<0.001). The level of Bcl-2 was higher in CHC than control but the difference was insignificant (P>0.05). Serum TGF-β1 was significantly increased in CHC and liver cirrhosis groups as compared to HCC and control groups (p<0.001). However, there was no significant difference between TGF-β1 in HCC and control group (P>0.05). The AFP level was significantly increased in HCC than CHC and liver cirrhosis. No significant difference was detected in AFP between CHC and LC patients (P>0.05) or between CHC and healthy control (P>0.05). A positive correlation was found between Bcl-2, and AFP in LC and HCC groups. It is concluded that the increased level of Bcl-2 in HCC may be involved in hepatocacingenesis. TGF-β1 may be the primary marker to start the process of carcinogenesis, however, low level of TGF-β1 may be needed to the progress of malignancy.