Efficacy of Serum PIVKA-II in the Diagnosis and Follow-up after Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

It is a very important diagnosis and evalution of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Korea where hepatitis B-virus is endemic. Protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist II (PIVKA-II) appears to be a useful tumor marker. This study was purposed to investigate usefulness of PIVKA-II in the diagnosis and fallow-up after treatment of HCC. A total of 418 patients were included in 187 patients (44.7%) of HCC, 83 patients (19.9%) of liver cirrhosis, 74 patients (17.7%) of chronic hepatitis and 74 patients (17.7%) of other liver diseases with serum PIVKA-II levels by Hicatch PIVKA-II kit. PIVKA-II level were analysed for difference of groups and the comparison of treatment responses. The sensitivity and specificity of PIVKA-II in the diagnosis of HCC were 80.2%, 87.0% at the cut-off value of 40 mAU/mL. There were statistically significant difference between the HCC and other groups (p<0.001), before and after PIVKA-II levels after treatment in HCC (p<0.001). PIVKA-II can be used as a useful tumor marker for patients with HCC, especially early diagnosis in high risk groups, treatment response assesment and monitoring of recurrence.