Measuring levels of osteopontin as potential biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma in Syrian patients

AIM This study aims to evaluate plasma osteopontin (OPN) levels as a potential biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). BACKGROUND Osteopontin (OPN) is a secreted glycoprotein that is associated with tumorigenesis and metastasis. METHODS We measured plasma levels of OPN in 26 HCC patients, 27 patients with chronic liver diseases (CLD), and 15 healthy control individuals using a standardized ELISA kit. RESULTS The mean plasma OPN level was significantly higher in the HCC group than the CLD group or the normal control group (p-value =0.001/<0.0001). Plasma OPN levels were significantly higher in patients with a tumor size >5 cm in diameter than those with tumors ≤5 cm (p=0.02). OPN levels in the HCC group were not significantly affected by advancing degree of Child-Pugh class. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of OPN for HCC were 61% and 82%, respectively (cut-off value: 118.69ng/mL). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) value for OPN was 0.784. However, the AUC value was 0.844 for AFP. CONCLUSION The plasma levels of OPN show low diagnostic accuracy for HCC compared to AFP. However, OPN may have a complementary role in diagnosing HCC in patients with non-diagnostic levels of AFP.