Yamauchi M, Nakayama H, Fukuzawa K, Nakajima H, Takahara M, Nakahara M, Kawase H, Watanabe Y, Kimura K, Kitahara T
Gan No Rinsho. 1984 Jun;30(7):785-90.
We assayed type III procollagen peptide in the sera of 213 patients with various liver diseases and 23 normal controls by radioimmunoassay. The non-cancerous limit of the serum level of type III procollagen peptide was defined as the mean +/- 2 SD of the patients with chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and alcoholic liver disease; it was 50 ng/ml. The percentage of type III procollagen peptide in sera exceeding this limit was 22.2% in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and 17.4% in metastatic liver cancer. Only patients with liver cirrhosis accompanied by alcoholic hepatitis exceeded this limit. In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma with peptide concentrations above 50 ng/ml, the serum level of GOT, GPT, LDH, T. Bil., LAP, gamma-GTP and T. Chol. was significantly higher than in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma whose serum peptide level was below 20 ng/ml.
