Evaluation of liver function show hypoproteinemia in untreated cancer patients: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Liver function test (LFT) is a routine laboratory examination used in the diagnosis of many disorders, the liver participates in several essential functions in the human body, and liver dysfunction can lead to morbidity and mortality. Therefore, studying the levels of LFT in untreated cancer patients can identify how the liver perform when cancer begins, and which parameter of LFT is affected early. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate levels of LFT including alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), albumin, total bilirubin (T bilirubin), direct bilirubin (D bilirubin), and total protein (T pro-tein), in untreated cancer patients. Design: Cross-sectional retrospective. Settings: Taif city- king Faisal Hospital (KFH) and Taif university. Patients and methods: Serum levels of ALT, AST, ALP, T protein, T bilirubin, D bilirubin, and albumin were evaluated. 256 Participants were included in this study and 30 were healthy participants. Cancer patients were as follows, gastroin- testinal tract cancer patients were 59, breast cancer patients were 45, gynecological tumors were 50, head and neck cancer patients were 20, blood tumor patients were 28, and urogenital tract patients were 24. Statistical analysis applied were T-test, Chi-square, odds ratio, and relative risk. Sample size: 256 participants were 30 healthy controls and 226 untreated cancer patients. Results: Hypoproteinemia was highly detected as 44% of patients demonstrated hypoalbuminemia and 22.2% of patients have low levels in T protein. AST, ALT, and ALP showed significant increase in patients than healthy control. Conclusion: Hypoproteinemia can be used as a prognostic marker of liver dysfunction in untreated cancer patients.