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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Hepato Pancreatic Biliary Cancers
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1408584
This article is part of the Research Topic Liver Cancer Awareness Month 2023: Current Progress and Future Prospects on Advances in Primary Liver Cancer Investigation and Treatment View all 20 articles

Interleukin-41: A novel serum marker for the diagnosis of alpha-fetoprotein-negative hepatocellular carcinoma

Provisionally accepted
Bowen Yao Bowen Yao 1,2*Yazhao Li Yazhao Li 2Haoyu Wang Haoyu Wang 1Danfeng Ren Danfeng Ren 2Jingyu Li Jingyu Li 1Zihan Mu Zihan Mu 1Chaoyi Li Chaoyi Li 1Yongchao He Yongchao He 1Jiayi Zhang Jiayi Zhang 1Rui Fan Rui Fan 1Jiayuan Yin Jiayuan Yin 1Jiaojiao Su Jiaojiao Su 1Yinli He Yinli He 1
  • 1 Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
  • 2 The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: For the lack of effective serum markers for hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) diagnosis, it is difficult to detect liver cancer and identify its recurrence early. Methods: Databases were used to analyze the genes potentially associated with alpha-fetoprotein(AFP) . ELISA assay was used to detect the serum IL-41 in HCC, liver metastases, hepatitis, and healthy people. Immunohistochemical staining was used to analyze the relative quantification of IL-41 in HCC and paracancer tissues. Various survival curves were plotted according to clinical pathological data and helped us draw the ROC curve of IL-41 diagnosis of HCC. Results: The serum expression of IL-41 was highest in AFP negative HCC patients and significantly higher than that in AFP positive HCC and metastatic cancer patients. There was a significant negative correlation between elevated serum IL-41 and AFP(<1500ng/ml). The clinicopathological features suggested that the serum IL-41 level was significantly correlated with capsule invasion, low differentiation and AFP. High serum expression of IL-41 suggests poorer survival and earlier recurrence after resection, and IL-41 upregulated in patients with early recurrence and death. The expression of IL-41 was higher in HCC tissues of patients with multiple tumors or microvascular invasion. The ROC curve showed that serum IL-41 had a sensitivity of 90.17 for HCC and a sensitivity of 96.63 for AFP-negative HCC, while the specificity was higher than 61%. Conclusion: IL-41 in serum and tissue suggests poor prognosis and postoperative recurrence in HCC patients and could be a new serum diagnostic marker for AFP negative patients.

    Keywords: IL41, Metrnl, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, AFP, serum biomarker

    Received: 28 Mar 2024; Accepted: 07 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yao, Li, Wang, Ren, Li, Mu, Li, He, Zhang, Fan, Yin, Su and He. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Bowen Yao, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China

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