Serum biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Serum biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2018 Jul 18;:1-10 Authors: Kotha S, Neong S, Patel K Abstract INTRODUCTION: Chronic liver disease due to viral hepatitis continues to be a major global health concern. Timely diagnosis and treatment will prevent cirrhosis, risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and requirement for liver transplantation. Numerous serum biomarkers are available for viral hepatitis that are helpful in diagnosis, measuring severity, progression of disease, evaluating the best therapeutic options, and monitoring antiviral treatment response. Determining the clinical use of available diagnostic tests can be challenging for the health care provider. Areas covered: This review article attempts to summarize the established and emerging serological markers for diagnosis and managing viral hepatitis. The literature search was performed in February 2018 and included MEDLINE and Embase databases for recent relevant literature on biomarkers for viral hepatitis. Expert Commentary: Despite the discovery of several candidate biomarkers, translating these to clinical practice in viral hepatitis and HCC remains challenging. While limited availability of the new biomarkers in prevalent geographic areas and significant cost remain major obstacles, there have been exciting developments in this field. Understanding the detection limits and sensitivity of these...
Source: Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics - Category: Laboratory Medicine Tags: Expert Rev Mol Diagn Source Type: research