Steroid hormone profiles plus α-fetoprotein for diagnosing primary liver cancer by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

Abstract Background Primary liver cancer (PLC) is one of the most common malignant tumors world-wide but its pathogenesis is unclear. We suggest that steroid hormones may offer diagnostic information for PLC. Methods Using liquid chromatography (UPLC) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), we quantified 7 endogenous steroids in 66 PLC human serum samples, 59 liver cirrhosis (LC) samples, and 65 healthy volunteers (HV). Data were assessed chemometrically and with Mann-Whitney U tests and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Results For PLC patients, androgens were low and estrogen was high. PLS-DA analysis discriminated between healthy subjects and cancer patients using (estrone + estradiol)/testosterone ratios. Moreover, cirrhosis patients were also distinguished with receiver operating characteristic curves indicating the specificity and sensitivity of our current approach. Conclusions Steroid hormone profiling by UPLC-MS/MS may be promising for early diagnosis of PLC but investigations with more patients and steroids are required to confirm the utility of these biomarkers for clinical applications.