To explore the clinical application of protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II) and alpha fetoprotein (AFP) in the diagnosis and curative effect monitoring of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC).

The serum levels of PIVKA-II and AFP in 572 patients from The Third People′s Hospital of Kunming from November 2015 to November 2017 were detected by automatic immunoanalyzer and automatic immunoanalyzer respectively. The area under the working curve (ROC-A) of the subjects diagnosed PHC by the two methods were analyzed separately and jointly. The sensitivity and specificity were also compared before and after treatment in patients with PHC.

The serum levels of PIVKA-II and AFP in PHC patients were significantly higher than those in liver cirrhosis group, chronic hepatitis B group, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma group and healthy controls. The sensitivity of PIVKA-II in the diagnosis of PHC was 87.28%, higher than that of AFP (70.52%). The sensitivity of both PIVKA-II and AFP in the diagnosis of PHC was 94.21%. Combination of PIVKA-II and AFP can improve the sensitivity and specificity of PHC diagnosis. After treatment, PIVKA-II and AFP levels in patients with PHC were significantly lower than those before treatment (P<0.05).

Serum PIVKA-II and AFP have high clinical value in the diagnosis and curative effect monitoring of PHC. Combined detection of these two markers can further improve the sensitivity and specificity.