Soluble cluster of differentiation 26/soluble dipeptidyl peptidase-4 and glypican-3 are promising serum biomarkers for the early detection of Hepatitis C virus related hepatocellular carcinoma in Egyptians.

Background And Study Aims: Many patients are diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the late stage when it is already untreatable. Therefore, there is an increased need for sensitive biomarkers to detect HCC at an earlier stage in high risk patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-induced cirrhosis. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of soluble cluster of differentiation 26/dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (sCD26/sDPP4) and glypican-3 (GPC3) as serum biomarkers for the early detection of HCV related HCC and compare it with that of the conventional tumor marker serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP).