Does value of alpha fetoprotein matter in HCC?

Aim: to determine whether value of alpha fetoprotein matter in hcc methods: a cross sectional analytical study was done at departments of medicine lahore general hospital and ghurki trust teaching hospital lahore,from january 2012-2014. after informed written consent patients with biphasic ct scan proven hepatocellular carcinoma were included. history gpe and demographics were recorded on a preformed proforma afp done and patients were divided according to alpha-fetoprotein levels i.e.,group i less than 20ng/dl,group ii 20-399ng/dl,group iii more than 400ng/dl and the size of tumor i.e.,group a less than 3cm,group b 3-8cm,group c more than 8cm results are analyzed. data was analyzed by spss 18 by applying spearman's rank correlation with p-values of 0.05 being considered significant. result: a total number of 253 patients were enrolled out of which there were 183 males (72.33%) and 70 females(27.66%),with the mean age of 52±11.51 ranging from 32 to 82 years. 138(54.5%) patients were having hcv,64(25.29%) patients were hbv and 9(3.55%) patients having both hbv&hcv. there were 25(9.88%),153(60.47%),75(29.64%) cases in afp group i,ii,iii respectively. while 22 (8.69%),132(52.17%),99(39.1%) cases in tumors size groups a,b,c respectively. large tumor size group c got 92.8% raised afp levels as compared to group b (91.5%) and group a (72.6%). small tumor size group a got 27% normal afp,group b and c got 8.3% and 8% normal afp respectively. conclusion: afp levels correlates with hcc especially in large tumors and in early hcc. its value should be co-related with sensitive imaging techniques so that early detection of tumor is not missed.