Abstract: Objective To detect serum Golgi protein 73(GP73) by chemiluminescence immunoassay(MP-CLIA) and further investigate its clinical applications with a variety of clinical samples including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), liver cirrhosis and hepatitis. Methods In our study, the serum GP73 level was measured among healthy controls and patients groups by MP-CLIA. The MP-CLIA and ELISA method were evaluated in HCC diagnosis by means of calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC). We also measured serum GP73 and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in 50 cirrhosis and 69 HCC patients and further compared the effectiveness GP73 and AFP of clinical diagnosis for HCC. We investigated the early diagnosis value of serum GP73 by comparing with different pathological stages of 69 HCC. We also compared the serum GP73 level of healthy controls with that of other benign liver diseases and other cancers. Results It was shown that there was no statistical difference (P>0.05) as to the ROC between the above two methods. It was also shown that the levels of serum GP73 were statistically significant among HCC group, liver cirrhosis group and control group (P<0.05). Serum GP73 level in T1, T2, T3, and T4 stage of HCC were 1.88nmol/L, 2.72nmol/L, 3.22nmol/L and 3.44 nmol/L, respectively. The concentration of serum GP73 in early stage of HCC was significantly different from advanced stage of HCC and liver cirrhosis (P<0.05). As a result, there were also statistical differences of serum GP73 between control group and autoimmune hepatitis, fatty liver, hepatitis, high-risk for HCC group as well as other cancer groups, respectively (P<0.05). Conclusion By clinical preliminary verification, GP73, whose level enhanced in the serum from HCC patients by MP-CLIA, is proved to be a sensitive serum marker in early diagnosis for HCC.

Key words: Golgi protein 73, chemiluminescence immunoassay, hepatocellular carcinoma