Level Of Serum Egf17 And Its Clinical Value As A Novel Diagnostic Biomarker For HCC

Backgrounds:Malignant epithelia-derived tumors are serious diseases endangering people's lives,the early diagnosis and targeted treatment have became hotspot of research.Egfl7 is a novel VEGF-alike gene which is found participating in angiogenesis and cell migration.Our earlier studies have shown that the expressions of Egfl7 mRNA and protein are increased in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines and liver cancer tissues.However,as a secreted protein,the level of Egfl7 in serums of healthy people,pregnant women and people with various pathological states is still unknown.Objective:By detecting the level of Egfl7 in serums of healthy donors,pregnant women,patients with common benign gastrointestinal diseases and patients with malignant epithelia-derived tumors,we plan to establish a profile of Egfl7's level and compare the levels of Egfl7 among these groups,found out if there are differential expressions,and try using Egfl7 to diagnosis malignant epithelia-derived tumors.Method:We collect serum samples of 286 healthy donors,317 pregnant women(include 109 early pregnancy,108 mid-pregnancy and 100 late pregnancy),96 benign gastrointestinal diseases(include digestive ulcer disease,diverticulum,cholelithiasis and inflammatory bowel disease) and preoperative serum samples of 11 brain glioblastoma,47 breast cancer,18 esophageal cancer,46 lung cancer,65 gastric cancer, 64 colorectal cancer,78 HCC,29 renal cancer,15 ovarian cancer,17 prostate cancer.The Egfl7 concentration of every sample is determined by JacalinHRP ELISA assay.Then we analyze the differential levels among these groups,and preliminarily evaluate the diagnosis ability of Egfl7 for malignant epithelia-derived tumors.Results:The concentrations of serum Egfl7 of healthy donors, pregnant women and patients with benign gastrointestinal diseases are 1082.12(7.5-4660.58)ng/mL,937.80(21.03-3363.85)ng/mL,1072.74 (14.48-4234.78) ng/mL,respectively.There is no significant difference between healthy donors and patients with benign gastrointestinal diseases (P=0.486).However,the level of serum Egfl7 is lower in pregnant women than it in healthy donors(P=0.011).Compared with healthy subjects,serum Egfl7 are significantly higher in malignant solid cancer groups(all P＜0.05),especially in HCC(median concentration 4028.85 vs. 1082.12,P＜0.001).At a cutoff value of 2625.75ng/mL,Egfl7's diagnostic sensitivity is 78.2%for HCC,combined with AFP,the sensitivity could be raised to 89.7%.Conclusion:Egfl7 is detectable in healthy people.The concentration of serum Egfl7 is decreased in pregnant women,but has no significant difference between healthy donors and patients with benign gastrointestinal diseases.The concentration of Egfl7 is elevated in various kinds of malignant epithelia-derived tumors,especially in hepatocellular carcinoma.It is a potential tumor biomarker.Egfl7 is an important potential diagnostic serology biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma,but futher studies are needed.