Objectives: To detect the expression of human alpha-fetoprotein mRNA (AFPmRNA) in peripheral blood (PBL) of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by using nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (nested RT-PCR) and to discuss relations between AFPmRNA and recurrent HCC.
Methods: Five ml peripheral blood samples were obtained from 19 patients with recurrent HCC. To identify HCC cells in PBL, liver-specific AFPmRNA was amplified from the total RNA extracted from the whole blood by nested RT-PCR.
Results: Seven patients (36.8%) with recurrent HCC were detected AFPmRNA, and 12 patients with recurrent HCC were AFPmRNA negative (63.2%). There was no significant relation between patients with AFPmRNA positive and AFPmRNA negative (P>0.05) in judging the origin of recurrent HCC.
Conclusion: AFPmRNA may not be used as a marker of origin of recurrent HCC.