The significance of the level changes of serum DCP and AFP before and after the intervention treatment in patients with primary hepatic carcinoma

Objective: To explore the clinical significance of the level changes of serum Des-γ-carboxy-prothrombin(DCP) and α-fetoprotein(AFP) before and after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE) in patients with primary hepatic carcinoma(PHC).Methods: The serum levels of DCP and AFP in patients with HPC before TACE,and in 1,2 and 4 months after TACE were detected by ELISA.Ninety-five PHC patients treated with TACE were divided into the improvement group and progression group according to their clinical effects.The relationships between DCP and AFP dynamic changes before and after TACE and TACE treatment effect were analysed.Results: Compared with the preoperation,the serum DCP levels in 2 and 4 months after operation and AFP level in 4 months after operation in improvement group decreased(P<0.01),but in progression group,their levels increased(P<0.05).Compared with the preoperation,the serum DCP levels in PHC patients of progression group with less than 400 ng/ml of AFP incrased in 1,2 and 4 months after operation(P<0.05),and the difference of AFP level was not statistical significance(P>0.05).Conclusions: The serum DCP and AFP level in PHC patients can be acted as the index in judging the curative effect of TACE.The DCP has more advantage than AFP in judging the curative effect of TACE while the serum AFP level is low.