Clinical Implication and Usefulness of Serum Heparin-Binding Egf-Like Growth Factor As a Potential Serological Biomarker for Gastric Cancer

Aim: Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF), a member of the EGF family, is overexpressed in human gastric cancer (GC) and considered to play an important role in carcinogenesis of GC as soluble form. This study evaluated the clinical implication of serum HB-EGF in patients with GC and validated its potential as a biomarker for GC. Methods: Serum HB-EGF level was measured by the commercially available human HB-EGF ELISA Kit and compared among 60 normal/gastritis patients (control group), 30 patients with intestinal metaplasia (IM)/dysplasia (high-risk group), 37 early GC (EGC) patients (EGC group), and 30 advanced GC (AGC) patients (AGC group) along the gastric carcinogenesis through one-way ANOVA test. Correlations of serum HB-EGF with clinicopathological parameters of GC were evaluated by Spearman's correlation. To evaluate the diagnostic potential of serum HB-EGF for GC, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated and logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: Serum HB-EGF levels were increased along the GC carcinogenesis (gastritis-dysplasia-EGC-AGC sequence). Serum HB-EGF levels were significantly higher in AGC groups (314.4 ± 127.5) than EGC (165.3 ± 123.2), high-risk (98.7 ± 67.3) and normal control (94.7 ± 83.6) groups (each p Conclusions: Serum HB-EGF exhibited a noticeable diagnostic accuracy to predict GC. Also, serum HB-EGF levels were closely correlated with primary tumor size, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis. Collectively, Serum HB-EGF is a potential serologic biomarker candidate for GC superior to CEA. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.