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However, the utility of this biomarker is not yet adequately established and AFP-L3 is not currently integrated in clinical practice. Positive pre-treatment values of AFP-L3 (> 24.4%) along with tumor size were found to be the two statistically significant predicting factors of treatment response[14]. Additionally, AFP-L3 positivity before TACE was significantly associated with 2-year survival rates (P = 0.01)[14]. Recently, it has been shown that An AFP-L3 decrease > 20% after 2 cycles of TACE is indicative of median overall survival (P AUY922 of patients before and after RFA has been more thoroughly investigated. AFP-L3 fragment positivity (> 15%) before and 2 mo after ablation was found to be indicative of high risk of recurrence (P = 0.0096) and possibly a marker of residual HCC that cannot be depicted by radiological techniques[39]. On the other hand, the patients who had positive pre-treatment values of AFP-L3 and became negative post-treatment, did not show significantly higher rates of recurrence[39]. In another study, AFP-L3 was the only significant predictor of disease free and overall survival in comparison to AFP and DCP when measured before and after RFA[40]. DCP DCP is an abnormal form of prothrombin produced by malignant hepatocytes. It has been used as a diagnostic marker (sensitivity 72%, specificity 90%) Cell Cycle inhibitor mainly in Japan and is associated with microvascular invasion of tumor cells[41-44]. Due to its correlation with HCC angiogenesis[41], it is thought to be indicative of high recurrence incidence. Like AFP, the elevation of its levels may be induced by chronic hepatitis C or advanced cirrhosis[41] and consequently DCP is not suitable for surveillance protocols. However, if combined with AFP, the sensitivity of the screening test may be increased. As a marker of tumor invasiveness, it is another potential biomarker for the effectiveness of locoregional treatments B3GAT3 for HCC. As suggested by a recent study, the response of DCP values to TACE may be useful for the estimation of treatment outcome. Decrease of DCP values greater than 50% was significantly associated with radiologic response to therapy (P