Increased Porphyrins in Primary Liver Cancer Mainly Reflect a Parallel Liver Disease

Table 1

Proportion of evaluable patients (%) with elevated urinary and/or faecal porphyrins measured as concentration of a metabolite above the laboratory reference range (Upper limit of normal, ULN) in cases with primary liver cancer, metastatic liver disease, and benign liver disorders. ALA : aminolevulinic acid; PBG : porphobilinogen.

	Primary liver cancer	Metastatic liver disease	Benign liver disorders
	𝑛=68	𝑛=18	𝑛=11
Age (years, range)	68 (49–92)	67 (39–81)	54 (27–74)
Sex (M/F)	51/17	9/9	4/7
U-ALA (% above ULN)	11^3	29^5	27
U-PBG (% above ULN)	0^2	0^5	0^8
U-Porhyrins (% above ULN)	15^1	12^5	13^9
F-Coproporhyrins (% above ULN)	20^4	30^7	50^9
F-Protoporphyrins (% above ULN)	35^4	45^6	33^8

¹𝑛=65, ²𝑛=64, ³𝑛=61, ⁴𝑛=49, ⁵𝑛=17, ⁶𝑛=11, ⁷𝑛=10, ⁸𝑛=9, ⁹𝑛=8.