Clinical Utilities of AFP-L3 Determination in Early Recognition, Diagnosis and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

Investigators:

Principal Investigator: Richard K. Sterling

Co-Investigators: Marc G. Ghany, Gregory T. Everson, Leonard B. Seeff

Participating Institutions: Wako Pure Chemicals, Ltd.: Tonya Mallory

Outside Collaborators: Wako Pure Chemicals, Ltd, Osaka, Japan; Wako Chemicals USA, Richmond, Virginia

Hypotheses/Aims

1. To determine whether AFP-L3 is useful in discriminating between HCC and a non-specific elevation in total AFP in the setting of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).
2. To determine whether AFP-L3 determination is useful in early detection of HCC in patients with chronic HCV.
3. To determine the usefulness of AFP-L3 in the prognosis of patients who develop HCC.