Objectives. To determine the correlation of alpha fetoprotein (AFP) with tumor size and the number of tumors in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods. Retrospective analysis of 149 patients with HCC at VUL “Santa- riskiu klinikos” 2010-2015. On the basis of AFP level patients were divided into group I AFP <20 kU/l, group II AFP 20-399 kU/l, group III AFP >400 kU/l). On the basis of tumor size patients were divided into group A <2 cm, group B 2-5 cm and group C >5 cm. If patient had multinodular HCC, the size was measured by the diameter of the largest tumor. On the basis of number of tumors patients were divided into group 1 (one node), group 2 (2-3 nodes), group 3 (>3 nodes). Correlation was analyzed by applying Spearman’s rank correlation; p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results. All patient included had liver cirrhosis. 75% of patients were men; average age was 63.6±11.7 years. The mean concentration of AFP was 4986.5±34714.9 kU/l. The mean diameter of tumor size was 5.88±6.56 cm. There were 44% (n=66), 34% (n=51) and 22% (n=32) in group I, II, III respectively. In tumor size groups, 17% (n=26) were in group A, 42% (n=62) in group B and 41% (n=61) in group C. We found weak, but accidental correlation of AFP concentration with HCC size (rs=0.33, p=0.084) and the number of tumors (rs=0.457, p=0.081).
Conclusion. Our study suggests that serum AFP has no significant correlation with the size and number of tumors in HCC.