PIVKA-II shows promise as HCC biomarker

Key clinical point: Increased levels of prothrombin induced by vitamin K deficiency or antagonist- II (PIVKA-II) identified patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Major finding: Median PIVKA-II serum levels were significantly higher in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (181.50 mAU/mL) vs patients with benign (noncancerous) liver disease (28.60 mAU/mL) or healthy controls (21.82 mAU/mL; both P less than .0001). When comparing HCC patients and healthy controls, PIVKA-II was markedly more sensitive than AFP (83.9% vs 64.3%, respectively), and somewhat more specific (91.5% vs 84.7%). Compared with measuring AFP alone, measuring both PIVKA-II and AFP demonstrated much greater sensitivity (81.95%) and slightly greater specificity (89.3%).

Study details: The researchers used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) to measure serum PIVKA-II levels in 168 patients with HCC, 150 patients with benign liver disease, and 153 healthy controls.

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Disclosures: Funding sources were described as inapplicable. The researchers reported having no conflicts of interest.

Source: Feng H et al. BMC Cancer. 2021 Apr 13. doi: 10.1186/s12885-021-08138-3