Background: Proteoglycans are involved in neoangiogenesis and transduction of oncogenic signals, two hallmarks of carcinogenesis.
Methods: This study sought to assess the prognostic value of serum levels of three proteoglycans (endocan, syndecan-1, and glypican-3) and VEGF in 295 patients with alcoholic cirrhosis: 170 without hepatocellular carcinoma, 58 with early hepatocellular carcinoma, and 67 with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma at inclusion. We analyzed the association between proteoglycan levels and prognosis using Kaplan-Meier and Cox methods.