Serum Talin-1 is a Potential Novel Biomarker for Diagnosis of HCC in Egyptian Patients

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common tumor and the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide (El-Serag, 2004; Ferlay et al., 2004). In Egypt, the growing incidence of HCC, which is nearly doubled over the last decade (Hassan et al., 2001; El-Zayadi et al., 2005; Freedman et al., 2006), is attributed to the highest prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) all over the world, ranging from 6 to 28% (AbdelAziz et al., 2000; Khattab et al., 2010). HCV increases HCC risk through promoting fibrosis, and finally leading to cirrhosis. HCC develops at an annual rate of 1-4%, when HCV-related cirrhosis is established (El-Serag and Rudolph, 2007). The incidence and mortality rates for HCC are nearly identical, indicating the overall poor survival of patients with this tumor. Therefore, the most effective treatment relies on the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (Bruix and Sherman, 2005). Alterations in cell-cell adhesion molecules, protein kinases and phosphatases, integrin-associated signaling molecules, or apoptosis regulators can confer resistance to anoikis which is a form of programmed cell death and promote progression to metastasis (Liotta and Kohn, 2004).