The Significance of Alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP) as a Tumor Marker

This report provides an overview of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) as a tumor marker, primarily found in the fetus and present in adults with conditions like liver cancer or germ cell tumors. The report highlights that AFP levels are measured through blood tests, with elevated levels potentially indicating liver dysfunction or cancer. It discusses AFP's role in detecting liver cancer, testicular cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma, as well as its utility in monitoring treatment effectiveness and cancer recurrence. The specificity and sensitivity of AFP in HCC surveillance are examined, noting the potential for false positives due to pregnancy or liver dysfunction. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of combining AFP testing with other diagnostic methods to improve detection accuracy and the ongoing research aimed at expanding AFP's applications as a tumor marker.

Running head: ALPHA-FETOPROTEIN TUMOR MARKER
ALPHA FETO-PROTEIN TUMOR MARKER
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1ALPHA FETO-PROTEIN TUMOR MARKER
Alpha feto-protein or AFP is found in the yolk sac or liver of the fetus during the fetal
development. It is the major abundant plasma protein of the human fetus and the level of the
AFP decreases after the birth of the new born. In adults AFP is found during the case of liver
cancer, cirrhosis that leads to hepatocellular carcinoma and in the rare case of nonseminomatous
germ cell tumors. Blood test is required to determine the AFP level and the AFP level is
measured in nanograms per milliliter. 10 ng/ml is the normal AFP level in the adults, but higher
rate could indicate liver dysfunction and a level of 500 ng/ml could indicate the presence of liver
tumor or cancer (Berry & Ioannou, 2013). Study has shown that the abnormal AFP level is
related to the perinatal complications and such abnormal level of AFP in the fetus during
pregnancy leads to the adverse pregnancy outcomes (Mizejewski, 2016). There are enormous
uses of AFP in the medical field as a biomarker. The AFP is used as the detector in order to
identify the liver cancer, testicular cancer or hepatocellular cancer. It is also used to detect the
effectiveness of the treatment of cancer and helps to recognize the recurrence of the cancer after
treatment. Liver cirrhosis patient has a tendency to suffer from hepatocellular cancer and the
death rate of such patients due to hepatitis c is high, thus HCC surveillance is important to
minimize the risk. The AFP is used to measure the HCC surveillance in this case (Chang et al.,
2015). Early diagnosis of HCC is difficult. The specificity of AFP is 80-90% and sensitivity is
41-65% in case of a cut off value 20 ng/ml. However, there are some false results in the
diagnosis process as the AFP test gives positive value in case of pregnancy and liver dysfunction.
Hence, the positive result of AFP test not always indicates the presence of cancer. Thus to
improve the detection process AFP is used together with iconography and pathology detection in
the clinical diagnosis of liver cancer (Zhao, Ju & Li, 2013). Due to such application of AFP it

2ALPHA FETO-PROTEIN TUMOR MARKER
has become research topic for the researchers in order to introduce more relevant use of AFP as a
tumor marker.

3ALPHA FETO-PROTEIN TUMOR MARKER
Reference:
Berry, K., & Ioannou, G. N. (2013). Serum alpha‐fetoprotein level independently predicts
posttransplant survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver
Transplantation, 19(6), 634-645.
Chang, T. S., Wu, Y. C., Tung, S. Y., Wei, K. L., Hsieh, Y. Y., Huang, H. C., ... & Tsai, Y. H.
(2015). Alpha-fetoprotein measurement benefits hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance in
patients with cirrhosis. The American journal of gastroenterology, 110(6), 836.
Mizejewski, G. J. (2016). Physiology of alpha-fetoprotein as a biomarker for perinatal distress:
relevance to adverse pregnancy outcome. Experimental biology and medicine.
Zhao, Y. J., Ju, Q., & Li, G. C. (2013). Tumor markers for hepatocellular carcinoma. Molecular
and clinical oncology, 1(4), 593-598.