Background: The carcinogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） is a multi-factorial

multistep and complex process. Its prognosis is poor and early detection is of the utmost importance. Transforming growth factor β1 （TGF-β1） message RNA （mRNA） has been reported to be elevated in HCC patients using Northern blotting. However

little work has been done about the detection of TGF-β1 mRNA levels in peripheral blood of patients with HCC using the real-time polymerase chain reactions （PCR） method. Objective: To assess the prognostic value of quantitative levels of TGF-β1 mRNA in peripheral blood of patients with HCC

and to investigate the relationship between the expression of TGF-β1 mRNA in peripheral blood and many diagnostic and pathological factors. Methods: We developed an optimized Taqman real-time PCR to quantify TGF-β1 mRNA in peripheral blood of 53 patients with HCC and 44 healthy volunteers. In addition

blood was collected from patients with HCC for measuring levels of total bilirubin （TBil）

prealbumin

albumin

alanine aminotransferase （ALT）

aspartate aminotransferase （AST）

gamma glutamyltranspeptidase （GGT）

alpha-L-fucosidase （AFU）

alpha fetoprotein （AFP）

carcino-embryonic antigen （CEA）

carbohydrate antigen 19-9 （CA19-9）

viral load and platelet counts. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS software system （SPSS 10.0）. Results: In real-time PCR

fluorescence was detectable in all blood specimens from patients with HCC and healthy volunteers. The levels of TGF-β1 mRNA expression in patients with HCC were significantly higher compared to that in healthy volunteers （P<0.000 1）

suggesting an association of the activated TGF-β1 gene transcription with hepato- carcinogenesis. Patients with HCC were divided into 2 groups according to their TGF-β1 mRNA above （group A

n=28）or below （group B

n=25） the mean level. Statistical results demonstrated that TGF-β1 mRNA expression level was correlated with patients age

serum levels of CEA

CA19-9 and viral copy number （P<0.05）. Conclusion: Although this is a small sample size pilot study these findings imply that quantitative measurement of TGF-β1 mRNA level in peripheral blood may be a complementary serologic marker of HCC.