The Alpha feto protein thing AGAIN :)

[DragonTamer]

Hi all just got my 3rd AFP results.....Now they are normal????????????? Went from 30 to 13.1   to now  8.0
I start treatment in 2 weeks....  I have Hep 2b.....   My biopsy, which I did through blood work was high 88 So said Fibrospect.......... but this AFP    lowering is confusing me...I know it fluxuates....   but this much????  

Can you have liver damage and a "normal AFP of 8??????????????????????????   Do I need a second opinion!!!!    The clock is ticking.......I  still feel fine...    have not turned yellow!  Even had a couple glasses of champaigne at a friends wedding a couple days before the test????   I was worried it might come back higher. But normal????

So I drank a bit of alcohol and it went back to normal?????
HELP!!!!   Anyone with any thoughts experience with this????
Getting closer to D day and wondering ....  what is going on???   All other blood work came back fine as well.

One confused Gragon Tamer!!!?????

[DragonTamer]

Thanks Hector....

Well I know I have Hep C    geno 2 b......   I start treatment in 2 weeks....  it was just the AfP levels which baffled me....   I started at 30.1 went to 13.0   a month or so later now 2months or so later they say they are normal at 8?????   So they are going down.... I suppose next month they could go up....   I guess what my question is does this look good for my liver even though I have Hep C????     Or these AFP tests really don't hold much weight when detecting liver cancer/ cirrohsis????   Or am I doing something right .....to help them go down...if that is the case I want to keep doing it!!!!   :)

Hope all you daddys out there had a great daddys day!
Dragon Tamer

[HectorSF]

Your fine. Normal adult levels of AFP are less than 20 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml). Only if you have cirrohsis would this be an issue for you. Patients with cirrhosis should have a CT scan and an AFP test every 6 months as cirrhotics have something like a 4% chance every year of getting liver cancer. I have cirrhosis and my AFP level varies between 120-150 usually.

AFP = alpha-fetoprotein

AFP is the most widely used biochemical blood test for liver cancer -  hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Generally, 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. Moreover, many patients with various types of acute and chronic liver diseases without documentable HCC can have mild or even moderate elevations of AFP.

The sensitivity of AFP for HCC is about 60%. In other words, an elevated AFP blood test is seen in about 60% of HCC patients. That leaves 40% of patients with HCC who have normal AFP levels. Therefore, a normal AFP does not exclude HCC. Also, as noted above, an abnormal AFP does not mean that a patient has HCC. It is important to note, however, that patients with cirrhosis and an abnormal AFP, despite having no documentable HCC, still are at very high risk of developing HCC.

Thus, any patient with cirrhosis and an elevated AFP, particularly with steadily rising blood levels, will either most likely develop HCC or actually already have an undiscovered HCC. An AFP greater than 500 ng/ml is very suggestive of HCC. In fact, the blood level of AFP loosely relates to the size of the HCC.

Cheers!
Hector