Innovative Blood Tests for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Liquid Biopsy and Evaluation of Systemic Inflammatory Reaction

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive tumour associated with dismal prog- nosis. To improve the outcome, early diagnostics is important. At present, classical HCC diagnostics is based on evaluation of risk factors, surveillance in cirrhotic patients, prefer- ence for non-invasive diagnosis by computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging and biopsy confirmation in controversial cases. However, ambiguous radiological presentation, biopsy-related complications or insufficient representation of the pathol ogy in the tissue core are well-known problems. Panel assessment of microRNAs has diagnostic and prognostic value; thus, in future, microRNA-based liquid biopsy could partially reduce the need for core biopsies. Systemic inflammatory reaction (SIR), char - acterised mainly by neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio and Glasgow prognostic score, may have prognostic value and can be incorporated in criteria for certain treatment approaches, e.g., becoming an adjunct to Milan criteria. Thus, inno-vations in HCC diagnostics are expected in the field of miRNA-based liquid biopsy for diagnosis/prognosis and SIR for prognosis/selection of treatment.