COMPARISON BETWEEN SERUM TAURINE AND SPECIFIC TUMOR MARKERS FOR EARLY DETECTION AND DIAGNOSIS OF HCC IN EGYPTIAN PATIENTS

Taurine has been demonstrated to have a direct and indirect antioxidant effect and to display antineoplastic activity by preventing angiogenesis and enhancing tumor cell apoptosis. Also it was suggested that measurement of serum taurine level in hepatic patients beside fibroscan is of great value in the early diagnosis of any fibrotic and cancerous liver changes.Aim of the work was to correlate serum taurine level with the levels of the specific tumor markers (α- fetoprotein and α-L-fucosidase ) for early diagnosis of different stages of HCC in Egyptian patients.

This observational case-control study was conducted in the Tropical Medicine Department, Ahmed Maher Teaching Hospital. Eighty hepatic patients were assigned to three groups (Chronic hepatitis, Cirrhosis and HCC). Twenty healthy subjects were enrolled as a control group. Serum levels of AFP, AFU, and taurine beside complete biochemical analysis and liver biopsies from all selected patients were done. Patients who accepted to be a candidate for living donor liver transplant (LDLT) were referred to Ain Shams University Specialized Hospital (ASUSH) liver transplant unit.