Study of role of melanoma-associated antigen D1 (MAGE-D1) in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks as the fifth most common neoplasm and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Current serum biomarkers for HCC surveillance and early diagnosis, particularly alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) the most commonly used marker, lack satisfactory sensitivity and specificity, highlighting an urgent need for more effective markers with higher accuracy for early HCC detection. The downregulation of melanoma-associated antigen D1 (MAGE-D1) transcription plays a crucial role in apoptosis and inhibits cancer cell proliferation when expressed ectopically. Moreover, reduced MAGE-D1 expression correlates with improved prognosis in many cancers. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the diagnostic role of MAGE-D1 in HCC, proposing it as a novel biomarker for early diagnosis and monitoring of tumor progression. Serum MAGE-D1 expression was measured using RT-qPCR on 198 subjects, divided into three groups: 88 with HCC, 56 with chronic liver conditions, and 54 as healthy controls. With a sensitivity of 93.3% and a specificity of 97.5%, MAGED-1 shows strong potential as a diagnostic marker for HCC. The performance of serum MAGED-1 expression in discrimination between HCC and chronic liver condition revealed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.939 using the cutoff (0.752) yielded a sensitivity of 90%, specificity of 85%, and an accuracy of 91%. Evaluation of the diagnostic significance of MAGED-1 demonstrated an AUC value of 0.726, with a sensitivity of 63.6% and a specificity of 73.5%. In conclusion, MAGED-1 might be a specific and sensitive biomarker for HCC, potentially improving the malignancy diagnosis and prognosis.