Role of LDH as a Predictor of Treatment Outcomes in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the commonest primary cancer of the liver. Incidence is increasing and HCC has risen to become the 5th commonest malignancy worldwide and the third leading cause of cancer related death, exceeded only by cancers of the lung and stomach. HCC prevalence is higher in sub-Saharan Africa, central and Southeast Asia.Serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels is an indirect marker of tumor hypoxia, angioneogenesis and worse prognosis. Lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), which is a glycolytic enzyme, composed of four polypeptide chains, each one encoded by separate gene (M and H), exists in various types of human tissue and neoplasms. LDH is a key enzyme in the conversion pyruvate to lactate under anaerobic conditions .Five isoforms of LDH have been identified as a result of the five different combinations of polypeptide subunits.

Hypoxia represents a clinical biological mechanism for treatment resistance in cancer cells via the formation of new blood vessels. Furthermore, a growing body of evidence indicates that hypoxia might actually promote cancer development.