The research is a meta-analysis of 32 previous studies. Researchers found combining ultrasound imaging with a blood test for high alpha fetoprotein levels can increase early-stage liver cancer detection by up to 40 percent. Alpha fetoprotein, a plasma protein, is low in adults, but liver cancer causes alpha fetoprotein levels to increase.
“If the cancer is found early, then we can perform curative therapies, allowing patients to live many years,” said G. Amit Singal, MD, associate professor of internal medicine and clinical sciences with UT Southwestern Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center in Dallas.
The Simmons Cancer Center is one of only 49 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation.
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