ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Hepato Pancreatic Biliary Cancers
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1560210
DCP as a Biomarker for TACE Efficacy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Provisionally accepted
- Hepatobiliary pancreatic surgery, Deyang people's Hospital, Deyang, Sichuan, 618000,China, Deyang, China
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The high mortality and rapid progression of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC) underscore the urgent need for advanced diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) serves as the cornerstone treatment for non-surgical patients, but efficacy assessment remains suboptimal. Limitations of traditional biomarkers (e.g., alpha-fetoprotein, AFP) have spurred investigations into des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP), a novel marker with promising utility.Emerging evidence shows DCP levels correlate strongly with treatment response, and low DCP predicts favorable outcomes. A retrospective analysis of 90 PHC patients treated with TACE revealed a significant association between serum DCP and clinical outcomes. Patients with low DCP (≤40 mAU/mL) had a markedly higher treatment response rate (53.3%) versus high DCP (>300 mAU/mL, 30.0%, p<0.05). The hazard ratio for treatment failure was 1.62 (95% CI: 1.09-2.23, p<0.01) per unit increase in log-transformed DCP. Notably, low DCP patients exhibited a median overall survival (OS) of 24.5 months, significantly longer than 12.6 months in high DCP patients (log-rank p<0.001). Similarly, median progression-free survival (PFS) was 15.2 months vs. 6.9 months (log-rank p<0.001). Statistical analysis confirmed DCP as an independent predictor, with AUC 0.75 (95% CI: 0.71-0.78) for treatment response.These findings establish DCP as a robust biomarker for predicting TACE efficacy, offering precise tools for personalized treatment. Tracking DCP enables clinicians to evaluate tumor response and tailor strategies, advancing precision medicine in PHC.
Keywords: Des-gamma-carboxyprothrombin, Transarterial chemoembolization, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, treatment response, biomarker
Received: 14 Jan 2025; Accepted: 30 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xie, Li, Yang, Tan, Xu and Yang. 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: Xiao Yang, Hepatobiliary pancreatic surgery, Deyang people's Hospital, Deyang, Sichuan, 618000,China, Deyang, China
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