RNA-Binding Motif Protein 8A In The Diagnosis Of Primary Liver Cancer

Objective:To investigate whether the RNA-binding motif protein 8A(RBM8A) can be used as markers for the diagnosis of primary liver cancer (PLC)Methods:The serum and clinical data of PLC patients,cirrhotic patients, patients with other malignancies and healthy controls were collected. The expression levels of serum RBM8A were detected by double antibody sandwich ELISA.The concentrations of AFP in each group were measured by clinical laboratory(chemiluminescence method).Resultesr:1. The peripheral serum samples from 340 individuals were collected,including 110 PLC patients,55 cirrhotic patients,87patients with other malignancies,and 88 healthy controls.2.The expression levels of serum RBM8A from the PLC patients were significantly higher than those from cirrhotic patients, patients with other malignancies and healthy controls (2.271±1.730 vs.0.381±0.121, 1.307±1.003,0.255±0.067, P<0.05)).The PLC patients were divided into three group according to the tumor size,respectively≤3cm、>3cm and≤10cm, >10cm. The expression levels of serum RBM8A in each group were not a statistically significant difference,but the expression levels of serum AFP were not,the level increased gradually with the tumor size.3.The cut off value of RBM8A and AFP were determined as 1.002ng/mL and 33.275ng/mL by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve,respectively,the sensitivity of RBM8A for the diagnosis of PLC was higher than that of AFP(80.0% vs.70.0%,P<0.05),but the specificity was lower(84.3% vs.94.8%,P<0.05).The area under curve of RBM8A and AFP were 0.881 and0.865(P>0.05),respectively.4.RBM8A levels were elevated in the serum of 55.9%(19/34) of individuals with PLC who had serum AFP levels less than 33.275ng/mL.5.The sesitivity and specificity of RBM8A in combination with serum AFP for the diagnosis of PLC were 86.3% and 82.6%,the negative predictiv value and Youden’s index improved to 92.4% and 0.689,respectively.6.There was no correlation between serum RBM8A and AFP levels in PLC patients, cirrhotic patients and healthy volunteers, but patients with other malignancies were not.Conclusions:1. The expression levels of serum RBM8A from the PLC patients were significantly higher than those from cirrhotic patients, patients with other malignancies and healthy controls.2. RBM8A is a new serum marker for the diagnosis of PLC，with higher sensitivity than AFP,and improves the detection rate of PLC patients with AFP-negative.3.Combined detection of serum RBM8A and AFP can effectively reduce the rat of missed diagnosis for AFP-negative or low concentration of PLC patient, improve the detection rate of liver cancer, at the same time,a more effective detection means is provided for diagnosis of liver cancer.