Assessment of Blood Flow in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Correlations of Computed Tomography Perfusion Imaging and Circulating Angiogenic Factors

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Ya-Wen Chen³  Huay-Ben Pan²  Hui-Hwa Tseng¹  Yu-Ting Hung²  Jer-Shyung Huang² 

[1] School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan; E-Mail:;Department of Radiology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung 813, Taiwan; E-Mails:;National Institute of Cancer Research, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli 350, Taiwan; E-Mail:

关键词: hepatocellular carcinoma;    blood flow;    circulating angiogenic factors;    CT perfusion;    interleukin 8;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms140917536

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly vascular tumor through the process of angiogenesis. To evaluate more non-invasive techniques for assessment of blood flow (BF) in HCC, this study examined the relationships between BF of HCC measured by computer tomography (CT) perfusion imaging and four circulating angiogenic factors in HCC patients. Interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL-8), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) in plasma were measured using Bio-Plex multiplex immunoassay in 21 HCC patients and eight healthy controls. Circulating IL-6, IL-8 and VEGF showed higher concentrations in HCC patients than in controls (p < 0.05), and predicted HCC occurrence better than chance (p < 0.01). Twenty-one patients with HCC received 21-phase liver imaging using a 64-slice CT. Total BF, arterial BF, portal BF, arterial fraction (arterial BF/total BF) of the HCC and surrounding liver parenchyma, and HCC-parenchyma ratio were measured using a dual-vessel model. After analyzing the correlations between BF in HCC and four circulating angiogenic factors, we found that the HCC-parenchyma ratio of arterial BF showed a significantly positive correlation with the level of circulating IL-8 (p < 0.05). This circulating biomarker, IL-8, provides a non-invasive tool for assessment of BF in HCC.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland