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Epidermal growth factor, its receptor and transforming growth factor-β1 in the diagnosis of HCV-induced hepatocellular carcinoma

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Abstract

In this article, we present a study on the levels of epidermal growth factor (EGF), its phosphorylated receptor (p-EGFR) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in the sera of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection. The results reveal significant higher serum levels of EGF and TGF-β1 in patients with HCC compared to their level in patients with CHC infection and control subjects. The levels of p-EGFR in HCC and CHC patients show a highly significant difference between patients. Based on the best cutoff value of 914 pg/ml, EGF shows 63.3 % sensitivity and 87.5 % specificity for HCC patients where the area under the curve is 0.81. The p-EGFR shows sensitivity of 63.3 % and specificity of 100 % where the area under the curve is 0.87 for HCC patients based on the best cutoff value of 39 U/mg protein. The best cutoff value (370 pg/ml) for serum TGF-β1 displays sensitivity of 86.7 % and specificity of 100 %, where the area under the curve is 0.97 for HCC patients.

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Abbreviations

HCC:

Hepatocellular carcinoma

CHC:

Chronic hepatitis C

EGF:

Epidermal growth factor

p-EGFR:

Phosphorylated epidermal growth factor receptor

TGF-β1:

Transforming growth factor-β1

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the technical staff of Oncology Diagnostic unit, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt.

Conflict of interest

The present study has no conflict of interest.

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Author notes

  1. Mahmoud Balbaa

    Present address: Faculty of Science, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

    Nihad Abdel Monem & Mahmoud Balbaa

  2. Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

    Mohamed Sakr

  3. Oncology Diagnostic Unit, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

    Fatma Shehata & Samar Kasem

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  1. Fatma Shehata
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  2. Nihad Abdel Monem
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Correspondence to Mahmoud Balbaa.

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Shehata, F., Abdel Monem, N., Sakr, M. et al. Epidermal growth factor, its receptor and transforming growth factor-β1 in the diagnosis of HCV-induced hepatocellular carcinoma. Med Oncol 30, 673 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-013-0673-x

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