A 35-year-old Chinese man presented with dull pain in the right hypochondrial region for the previous 2 months. Laboratory examination revealed that his serum alpha-fetoprotein level was 1890 microg/L (reference range, 0-20 microg/L), and computed tomographic scan showed a hypodense lesion in the left liver lobe. At laparotomy, a dark reddish soft tumour (3.0 x 3.5 cm in diameter) was found in ...

Ten (9.3%) of 107 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma had considerably increased serum unsaturated vitamin B12 binding capacity. All 10 were young (mean 12 years), had no serum alpha-fetoprotein, and no underlying cirrhosis; all had a longer survival compared with patients without increased serum unsaturated vitamin B12 binding capacity in the study. Seven of the 10 patients had fibrolamella...

The anthracycline antibiotic drug daunomycin has been coupled to fatty acids through formation of a peptide bond with the amino group of its lyxose residue. The arachidonic (C20:4) and docosahexaenoic (C22:6) acid derivatives showed potent in vitro and in vivo cytotoxic activity against rat hepatoma cells producing alpha-fetoprotein. With the exception of the acetate derivative, the complexes w...

Serum alpha-fetoprotein levels were measured serially by radioimmunoassay in 32 patients with acute viral hepatitis. With one exception, the levels were increased during the course of the illness. Raised concentrations of the protein occurred almost equally in patients with and without the hepatitis-B antigen. In the majority of patients the rise was modest but in seven levels were reached at w...

The importance of estrogens in controlling brain and behavioral sexual differentiation in female rodents is an unresolved issue in the field of behavioral neuroendocrinology. Whereas, the current dogma states that the female brain develops independently of estradiol, many studies have hinted at possible roles of estrogen in female sexual differentiation. Accordingly, it has been proposed that a...

The group-specific component (Gc) is the major vitamin D-binding protein in plasma. The gene encoding Gc is linked, on human chromosome 4, to the albumin and alpha-fetoprotein genes. These two genes previously were shown to have evolved from a smaller ancestral gene by intragenic triplication. Recombinant plasmids containing human cDNA encoding Gc have been isolated by screening an adult human ...

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to retrospectively investigate and compare multidetector computed tomography findings of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-positive and -negative patients. METHODS Triphasic (arterial, portal venous, and delayed phases) dynamic multidetector computed tomography (CT) was performed in 83 patients with HCC, 48 of whom were HBV-po...