I am a stage 2 also, and my AFP always averaged betweem 3 and 6. One time it spiked to 21, so my doctor ordered a CT Scan.
Thankfully, no abnormalities were found. Two months later my AFP returned to its previous range. As already mentioned, chronic Hep C patients can experience mild fluctuations in their AFP levels due to the livers continued efforts to regenerate itself.
As eureka pointed out, unless you are co-infected with Hepatitis B, it is "highly unlikely" that a stage 2 patient would develop cancer. I would however request another AFP test in 2 to 3 months. Hope that helps as well.
Good info above, I would just add that liver cancer would be HIGHLY unlikely if you are Stage 2. The particular risks for liver cancer in hep c patients is usually due to cirrhosis (Stage 4) or if hcv is complicated by other issues (such as co-infection with hep b , hemochromatosis, etc.). For people with chronic hep c, my understanding is fluctuations of AFP between 10-50 are not unusual at all. Hope that helps. ~eureka
In this case it looks like normal afp is 9, your apf is 23, which is slightly elevated. Normal AFP values may vary from lab to lab.
An elevated AFP marker is simply an indicator, not a diagnosis of cancer or hcc. Hepatitis or cirrhosis can cause increased levels. Not everyone with increased levels has liver cancer.
An ultrasound can be ran for further diagnosis.
An afp over 500 ng/ml is an extreme elevation- Note: ng/ml = nanograms per milliliter
A slightly elevated AFP marker like yours is consistent with chronic viral hepatitis.
Here's a link that may help you:
http://www.medicinenet.com/Alpha-fetoprotein_Blood_Test/article.htm
A slightly elevated AFP (< 50) can sometimes be a result of chronic Hep C, whereas AFP greater than 400-500 ng/ml is, I believe, suggestive of tumours.
Family docs may be unfamiliar with Hepatitis C, but a hepatologist knows it's not unusual to have slightly elevated AFP levels. Was this test run by your family doc?
Normal levels of AFP are below 10 ng/ml.
Moderate levels of AFP (even almost up to 500 ng/ml) can be seen in patients with chronic hepatitis.
An AFP greater than 500 ng/ml is very suggestive of liver cancer. In fact, the blood level of AFP loosely relates to (correlates with) the size of the liver cancer.
NOTE:The sensitivity of AFP for liver cancer is about 60%. In other words, an elevated AFP blood test is seen in about 60% of liver cancer patients. That leaves 40% of patients with liver cancer who have normal AFP levels. Therefore, a normal AFP does not exclude liver cancer. Also, as noted above, an abnormal AFP does not mean that a patient has liver cancer.
Most cases of HCC are sound in individuals that have cirrhosis which is why routine testing in performed twice yearly on cirrhotics.
HectorSF
Yes, I would be very interested in past experience with these numbers also. Please someone pipe up! Mine went up from a 9 last year to 11 this past month.