Research Article

SEPT9 Gene Methylation as a Noninvasive Marker for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Figure 1

The plasma SEPT9 methylation (mSEPT9) level in cell-free DNA of plasma assayed using methylation-specific fluorescence quantitative PCR. Quantitative PCR showed a significantly decreased median CT value of SEPT9 methylation assay in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, ) when compared to the healthy control (HC, ) and at-risk disease (). The at-risk disease category indicates noncancerous liver diseases, including cirrhosis and hepatitis. CT indicates cycle threshold. Early-HCC represents patients with early-stage (stages A and B) HCC. Late-HCC represents patients with late-stage (stages C and D) HCC. The full line shows the mean CT of each group.