BACKGROUND The prognosis for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is poor by the time they present with symptoms. This review examines the usefulness of screening programs from the perspectives of survival benefit and of cost-effectiveness. MATERIALS AND METHODS Articles were searched through Medline for screening, HCC, treatment and cost-effectiveness. RESULTS Both ultrasonography ...

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) treatment on the expression of ezrin and serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).A total of 24 patients (20 males and 4 females) with resectable HCC were treated with venous injection of As2O3 for 14 days (10 mg/d) before surgery. The ezrin expression and serum AFP levels were assessed...

In 1987, Jacobson et al. (1) suggested that mothers of twins might be protected against subsequent breast cancer. This prediction was based on laboratory studies of the effects of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) on the growth of human breast cancer implanted in animals, combined with the well-known approximate doubling of the levels of maternal serum AFP during twin versus singleton pregnancies. This t...

OBJECTIVE To define the contribution of maternal variables which influence the measured level of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in screening for pregnancy complications. METHODS Maternal characteristics and medical history were recorded and serum AFP was measured in women with a singleton pregnancy attending for three routine hospital visits at 11 + 0 to 13 + 6, 19 + 0 to 24 + 6 and 3...

Human fetuin-A has emerged as a provocative molecule which actions in pregnancy have become the subject of research especially since the last decade. Also known as alpha-2 HeremansSchmid glycoprotein, fetuin-A is a circulating glycoprotein produced in increased amounts during fetal life by various tissues. Similar fetuin-A concentrations in maternal serum and umbilical cord suggest passive plac...

OBJECTIVES To assess if age and/or age-dependent variations in the levels of two major calcification regulatory proteins, fetuin-A and osteopontin, could be associated with an increased risk of calcinosis in children with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM). METHODS The frequency of calcinosis was derived from a national UK database of 212 cases of JDM. Serum fetuin-A and plasma osteopontin levels...

The urine alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and serum albumin genes most probably arose in evolution as the consequence of a duplication of a common ancestral gene. They have both been previously mapped to chromosome 5 in the mouse. We now have evidence that these genes are closely linked. By using a unique copy DNA probe derived from previously cloned AFP 5' flanking DNA, a recombinant DNA phage has bee...

Spontaneous regression of cancer is a rare phenomenon seldom described in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. A case of spontaneous regression of hepatocellular carcinoma is reported and compared with the reports published in the English literature. A 52-yr-old man presented with biopsy-proven hepatocellular carcinoma, which was considered to be unresectable at initial laparotomy. The tumor...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the additional value of dimeric inhibin-A serum concentration in second trimester multiple-marker screening tests for pregnancies affected by Down's syndrome. We anticipated that second trimester maternal serum dimeric inhibin-A concentrations would be altered in pregnancies complicated by fetal Down's syndrome and that dimeric inhibin-A would perform bette...

The California Supreme Court first recognized wrongful life in Turpin v. Sortini, and has since only permitted the child to recover special damages for the extraordinary additional medical care and training occasioned by the genetic defect. The wrongful life jury instruction under CACI requires the following elements to sustain the cause of action: 1) the defendant negligently failed to diagnos...