Assessment of the role of interleukin-6 in diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a promising tumor marker for hepatocellular carcinoma; HCC. IL-6 may help to identify a subset of HCC patients with low alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level, and may serve as complementary tumor marker, however, this has to be clarified. This study assesses the value of measuring serum level of interleukin-6 in patients with chronic liver disease and HCC, and evaluates its sensitivity and specificity in comparison to AFP in early diagnosis of HCC. Seventy five patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) with or without HCC and 25 healthy controls were included. Patients were divided into Group I: 25 patients with CLD but no evidence of HCC. Group II: 25 patients with HCC on top of post-viral hepatitic with elevation in AFP (> 200 ng); and Group III: 25 patients with HCC on top of post-viral hepatitic but without elevation in AFP (< 200 ng). Analysis of the mean serum IL-6 levels revealed a statistically significant difference between all groups (P < 0.01). A significant positive correlation was found between mean levels of IL- 6 & AFP in HCC (P < 0.05), the mean IL-6 levels in patients with Child classification C was higher than in those with Child A and B.After adjustment using multiple logistic regressions, only loss of weight and AFP were found to be significantly associated with HCC (P < 0.05). It is concluded that the diagnostic value of IL-6 increased when it is associated with AFP measurement. Combining the two markers can provide a new perspective in the diagnosis of HCC.