CXCL13 rather than IL-31 is a potential indicator in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

To evaluate the expression and role of serum CXC chemokine ligand 13 (CXCL13) and cytokine IL-31 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.

A case-control study including preoperative serum samples of 78 patients with HCC, 78 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and 36 healthy controls (HCs) was conducted. The levels of serum CXCL13 and IL-31 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The correlation of serum cytokines and clinical characteristics, laboratory parameters were analyzed retrospectively.

Serum CXCL13, rather than IL-31, was significantly higher in patients with HCC compared with CHB patients or healthy controls. Moreover, there were no statistical differences between CHB patients and healthy controls. Serum CXCL13 was further increased in patients with large tumor size, metastasis and advanced HCC (TNM III-IV Stage). On correlation analysis, the levels of serum CXCL13 were related to HB, ALB, CHE, INR and Child-Pugh scores. The area under the ROC curve values for combination of CXCL13 and AFP was 0.938, whose sensitivity and specificity was 82.8% and 100%, respectively.

This study indicated that CXCL13 rather than IL-31 may have clinical values of diagnosis and prognosis in HCC.