Serum Stem Cell Growth Factor Beta for the Prediction of Therapy Response in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Table 2

Basal levels of circulating cytokines in HCC patients.

	Cytokine level (pg/ml) [median (min-max)]
Viral infection	HCV+ (n=10)	HCV- (n=19)	p
IP-10	2606 (1478 – 7454)	950 (398 – 2568)	<0.001
IL-2Rα	117 (58 – 284)	65 (1 – 182)	<0.05
MIG	1029 (468 – 1550)	551 (70 – 1740)	<0.01
Treatment choice	RF (n=15)	TACE (n=14)	p
IL-15	21.5 (7.2 – 44.6)	11.6 (0.2 – 27.8)	<0.01
SDF-1a	344 (157 – 552)	511 (218 – 982)	<0.01
BCLC stage	A (n=17)	B (n=10)	p
IL-8	15 (6 – 47)	25 (10 – 54)	<0.05
HGF	409 (283 – 1111)	590 (363 – 1649)	<0.05

Quantification of the serum cytokines was determined by using Bio-Plex kit (Bio-Rad) in Bio-Plex array reader (Luminex, Austin, TX). Cytokines levels were mentioned as median (min-max); statistical significance was calculated by using Student’s t-test. HCV: hepatitis C virus, TACE: transarterial chemoembolization, RF: radiofrequency ablation, and BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer.