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The prevalence of variant alkaline phosphatase in hepatocellular carcinoma in Southern African blacks
Author(s) -
Bukofzer Stanley,
Kew Michael C.,
Rowe Pamela
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19880901)62:5<978::aid-cncr2820620522>3.0.co;2-6
Subject(s) - hepatocellular carcinoma , alkaline phosphatase , incidence (geometry) , medicine , isozyme , carcinoma , population , gastroenterology , phosphatase , cancer , pathology , enzyme , biology , biochemistry , physics , environmental health , optics
The prevalence of variant alkaline phosphatase in the serum of 335 southern African blacks with hepatocellular carcinoma was determined using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The isoenzyme was detected in 2% (seven of 335) of the patients: it could not be found in the serum of 300 matched, healthy individuals or in 56 patients with various benign hepatic diseases. Variant alkaline phosphatase is thus of little use as a diagnostic marker of hepatocellular carcinoma in southern African blacks. The reported prevalence of this isoenzyme in hepatocellular carcinoma ranges between 3% and 31%. Higher frequencies usually are recorded in populations with a low incidence of the tumor, and the lowest frequencies have been found in Chinese patients. Our finding of variant alkaline phosphatase in only 2% of another high incidence population fits this trend. Patients with tumors that secreted the variant isoenzyme had a significantly higher serum total alkaline phosphatase activity than those with tumors lacking this property.