Changes of plasma des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in response to vitamin K

Article Abstract:

One of the many jobs of the liver is the production of prothrombin, an important protein in the clotting process. In patients with a deficiency in vitamin K, the backbone of the prothrombin molecule is produced, but it is not chemically modified in the way necessary for its functional activity. The abnormal prothrombin molecule found in patients with vitamin K deficiency, called des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP), is also found in the blood of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, a form of primary liver cancer. Some researchers speculated that the DCP found in patients with liver cancer must arise from different mechanisms from the DCP in vitamin K-deficient patients. While a vitamin K supplement reduces the amount of DCP in the blood of vitamin-deficient patients, it was not expected to produce in a similar reduction in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. However, systematic measurements of DCP following treatment with vitamin K2 have revealed that this is not the case. The rate of reduction in DCP in the blood of liver cancer patients following an injection of vitamin K2 was identical to that observed among patients with vitamin K deficiency. However, the reduction was not sustained; after the reduction which occurred one to three days after the injection, the DCP levels in the blood began to rise again, and within seven to 10 days were back to their previous levels. The failure to convert DCP into the normal prothrombin molecule cannot, however, be attributed to a reduction in the amount of vitamin K in the blood of liver cancer patients; patients with DCP do not have significantly different amounts of vitamin K in their blood than patients without DCP. Since the rate of reduction of DCP in the liver cancer patients was found to correlate with the effectiveness of cancer treatment, the authors suggest that DCP may prove to be a useful method of monitoring treatment progress in some patients. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Prothrombin, Vitamin K

---

The usefulness of simultaneous determinations of glucosaminylation and fucosylation indices of alpha-fetoprotein in the differential diagnosis of neoplastic diseases of the liver

Article Abstract:

Different proteins are made by stringing together different combinations of 20 amino acids, in a manner analogous to making many different words by stringing together different combinations of 26 letters. However, the fundamental amino acid backbone of a protein is often just the beginning. The new protein may be chemically modified by the cell; this modification often involves adding complicated sugar molecules to the protein backbone. The way in which proteins are modified by adding sugars, a process called glycosylation, may provide important diagnostic cues for cancer. Researchers examined the different chemical modifications to a protein called alpha-fetoprotein in 403 patients with different types of liver cancer and in 176 patients with benign (noncancerous) liver disease. In particular, they examined the modification of the alpha-fetoprotein with the sugar glucosamine, a process called glucosaminylation, and the modification with the sugar fucose, called fucosylation. These modifications were more extensive for metastatic liver cancer which had spread from other digestive organs (to the liver) than for hepatocellular carcinoma, a cancer arising within the liver itself. The modification for both types of liver cancer was more extensive than for benign liver disease. When both the glucosaminylation and fucosylation were used together as a diagnostic indicator, 40 of the 47 cases of metastatic liver cancer in the present series were successfully distinguished from hepatocellular carcinoma. The results suggest that the indices of glucosaminylation and fucosylation of alpha-fetoprotein may serve as a powerful diagnostic tool for liver cancer. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Reports, Measurement, Metastasis, Cancer metastasis, Alpha fetoproteins, Diagnosis, Differential, Differential diagnosis

---

Natural killer cell activity in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma relative to early development and tumor invasion

Article Abstract:

Natural killer (NK) cells are lymphocytes that participate in immune regulation and the resolution of infections. NK cells are also capable of killing tumor cells, and it is believed that surveillance by NK cells is part of the normal protection against tumors. Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (liver cancer) have decreased NK cell activity, but the clinical significance of this fact is not known. To further clarify the relationship of NK activity and HCC, natural killer activity was measured in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, cirrhosis of the liver, and in healthy volunteers. NK activity was depressed in both HCC and cirrhosis patients when compared with normal volunteers. No correlations were evident between NK activity and hepatitis B antigen, alpha-fetoprotein, or Pugh's grade of cirrhosis. Because of the high correlation between cirrhosis and HCC, there is a possibility that depression of natural killer cell response is one of the factors which contributes to the eventual development of hepatocellular carcinoma. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Liver diseases, Killer cells, Liver cirrhosis

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Immune restoration with interleukin-2 in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Clinical and pathologic prognostic variables in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma
• Abstracts: Effects of anxiety on family members of patients with cardiac disease learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Retention of cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills among nursing personnel: what makes the difference?
• Abstracts: Effect of enalapril on survival in patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fractions and congestive heart failure
• Abstracts: Renal and humoral effects of ibopamine, a dopamine agonist, in patients with liver cirrhosis. Gynecomastia and cirrhosis of the liver
• Abstracts: The incidence and significance of thromboembolic complications in patients with high-grade gliomas. Interstitial radiogold implantation for the treatment of recurrent high-grade gliomas

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.