Published online Oct 15, 2003. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v9.i10.2178
Revised: July 25, 2003
Accepted: August 2, 2003
Published online: October 15, 2003
AIM: This study was designed to evaluate the clinical application of serum total sialic acid (TSA) in the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).
METHODS: Serum TSA was determined by periodate-resorcinol microassay in 69 patients with CCA, 59 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 37 patients with cirrhosis, 61 patients with chronic hepatitis and 50 healthy blood donors.
RESULTS: The mean serum TSA concentration in CCA (2.41 ± 0.70 mmol/L) was significantly higher than those of HCC, cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis and healthy blood donors (1.41 ± 0.37 mmol/L, 1.13 ± 0.31 mmol/L, 1.16 ± 0.26 mmol/L, and 1.10 ± 0.14 mmol/L, respectively; P < 0.001). Based on ROC curve analysis, a cut-off point of 1.75 mmol/L discriminated between CCA and HCC with a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 82.6%, 83.1%, and 82.8%, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Based on our results, serum TSA would be a useful marker for the differential diagnosis of CCA from HCC.