Association Between Insulin-like Growth Factor-2 Expressionand Prognosis after Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization and Octreotide in Patients with Hepatocellar Carcinoma

Abstract

<br/><b>Objective</b>: To investigate the association between the change of IGF-2 level in serum after transcatheterarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression, especially in relation tometastasis. <br/><b>Methods</b>: IGF-2 in serum was measured by quantitative sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbentassaybefore, 3 days and 4 weeks after TACE in 60 patients with HCC. The occurrence of HCC metastasis wasalso evaluated, 3 months after TACE. <br/><b>Results</b>: (1) The average serum level of IGF-2 in the 60 patients withHCC was 136.5 ± 87.3 pg/ml; (2) A tendency for increase was observed with heterogenous uptake of octreotideand portal vein thrombosis. Metastatic foci were found in 37/38 patients in the group with IGF-2 increasing(97.0%), in contrast to 3/22 (13.6%) patients with IGF-2 decrease. <br/><b>Conclusion</b>: The increase of IGF-2 level inserum appears to be associated with the occurrence of metastatic HCC after TACE and chemotherapy.