The Relationship Between Combination Of Detection Of MAGE-1 And AFPmRNA In Peripheral Blood And Postoperative Relapse Or Distant Metastasis In Patients With Hepatocelluar Carcinoma

Objective: To find a more sensitive method to detect the postoperative recurrence and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma in early stage .Methods: Tumour-specific MAGE-1 and AFP transcripts in the peripheral blood of HCC patients in three time spot were tested by nested RT-PCR to detect the circulating tumour cells and evaluate their potential clinical implication.Results: Detection of MAGE-1 and/or AFP mRNA inperipheral blood is closely correlated to the pathological stages of HCC. The more advanced stages of HCC, the higher rate of micro-metastasis of cancercells detectable in peripheral blood . In one year follow-up , 9 of 37 HCC patients appeared recurrence , in whom the positive rate of MAGE-1 and/or AFP mRNA was 77. 8% (7 out of 9 ) , 6 of 9 with persistent expressionof MAGE-lmRNA and/or AFPmRNA in peripheral blood and 2 with MAGE-1 mRNA or AFPmRNA from negative turned to positive . In contrast, ten patients with MAGE-1 and/or AFP transcripts positive before tumor resection turned to negative after surgical treatment have no recurrence.Conclusion: Combination of detection of MAGE-1 and AFP mRNA in peripheral blood is a more sensitive and valuable assay for the early prediction of the relapse and prognosis of the HCC patients.