Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Science - Department of Biochemistry

This work is concerned with identification and quantitative determination of collagen III and matrix metalloproteinase-1(MMP-1), that will be used as markers for identifying early HCC. A total of 148 patients with HCC,133 with cirrhosis and 121 with fibrosis constituted this study. Collagen III and MMP-1 were identified based on Western blotting and quantified in sera using ELISA.We found that Patients who had HCC showed significantly (P<0.05) higher concentrations of collagen-III and collagen-III/MMP-1 ratio (CMR) than fibrotic and cirrhotic patients. On the contrary, patients with HCC showed significantly (P<0.05) lower concentration of MMP-1 than those without. Overall, CMR produced 0.80 area under curve (AUC) for separating HCC from cirrhotic patients. Interestingly, CMR enabled the correct identification of early HCC patients producing 0.83AUC for identifying small tumor size (<3cm) with 90% sensitivity and 75% specificity, 0.82 AUC for identifying CLIP (0-1) [Cancer of the Liver Italian Program] with 83% sensitivity and 75% specificity, and 0.92 AUC for identifying BCLC (0-A) [Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer] with 93% sensitivity and 75% specificity. In conclusion, CMR is a promising test for early detection of HCC with a high degree of accuracy that may facilitate therapy

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