Bone-marrow Cells Predict Liver Cancer Prognosis
Friday, October 6th, 2006Higher levels of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma signal the likelihood of unresectable disease, according to researchers.
“Our evidence supports the potential use of circulating level of endothelial progenitor cells as a prognostic marker in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma,” wrote Ronnie T.P. Poon, M.D., at the University of Hong Kong, and colleagues, in the October issue of Hepatology.
In a comparison study, patients with liver cancer had significantly higher levels of the progenitor cells in circulation than patients with either cirrhosis or healthy livers.
“Our data suggest that further studies are worthwhile to validate the prognostic value of circulating endothelial progenitor cell levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, and to explore possible therapeutic strategies against hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting bone marrow mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells,” Dr. Poon and colleagues concluded.
A summary posted at Medpage Today, concludes that a study with a much larger cohort in the surgical group with serial collection of blood samples over a longer follow-up period should be carried out to further confirm the prognostic significance of hepatocellular carcinoma.