Chinese Hepatolgy ›› 2025, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (10): 1375-1378.

• Liver Cancer • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Analysis of the diagnostic value of enhanced MRI scanning combined with serum alpha-fetoprotein levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

REN Jie1, XUE Ying2, ZHOU Heng-chen3   

  1. 1. Department of Imaging, Hai′an People's Hospital,Nantong 226600, China;
    2. Department of Imaging Medicine, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Nantong Affiliated Hospital,Nantong 226600,China;
    3. Department of Imaging, Hai′an Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital,Nantong 226600,China
  • Received:2024-08-17 Online:2025-10-31 Published:2025-12-16

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Abstract: Objective To explore the effectiveness of enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level in diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods The study included 82 HCC patients (observation group) and 80 patients with benign liver diseases (control group) treated at the People's Hospital of Hai′an City in Jiangsu Province from October 2020 to October 2023. Both groups underwent enhanced MRI and had their serum levels of AFP, apolipoprotein B (ApoB), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), tumor supplied group of factor (TSGF), carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) measured. Pearson's analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between MRI parameters and serum markers, and the diagnostic value of combining MRI parameters with serum AFP level was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results In the observation group, the values of Ktrans, Kep, and Ve were higher than those in the control group [(0.56±0.21) vs. (0.31±0.17), (1.53±0.41) vs. (1.06±0.32), (0.44±0.15) vs. (0.22±0.08)]; serum levels of AFP, GGT, TSGF, CA19-9, and CEA were also higher [(351.24±82.67) vs. (88.79±11.37), (51.19±6.21) vs. (29.64±3.42), (80.33±9.76) vs. (19.54±2.86), (56.97±6.58) vs. (23.85±3.04), (18.23±2.62) vs. (0.89±0.24)], while ApoB levels were lower [(0.87±0.26) vs. (1.14±0.30)]. Correlation analysis indicated the positive relationships between Ktrans, Kep, Ve and serum AFP, GGT, TSGF, CA19-9, CEA levels, and a negative correlation with ApoB levels. ROC analysis demonstrated that the sensitivity and specificity of the combined MRI parameters and serum AFP levels in diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma were 95.1% and 95.0% respectively, with an AUC of 0.973, which was superior to individual testing. Conclusion The combination of enhanced MRI parameters and serum AFP levels exhibits high sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing HCC. This combination method is more effective than single testing method, which can significantly improve the diagnostic accuracy of HCC.

Key words: Enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, Serum alpha-fetoprotein, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Diagnostic value, Correlation