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Like any elevated tumor marker, elevated AFP by itself is not diagnostic, only suggestive. In patients with AFP-secreting tumors, serum levels of AFP often correlate with tumor size. Serum levels are useful in assessing response to treatment. Principal tumors that secrete alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) are endodermal sinus tumor (yolk sac carcinoma), neuroblastoma, hepatoblastoma, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Tumor markers are used primarily to monitor the result of a treatment (e.g. chemotherapy). If levels of AFP go down after treatment, the tumor is not growing. In the case of babies, after treatment AFP should go down faster than it would normally. A temporary increase in AFP immediately following chemotherapy may indicate not that the tumor is growing but rather that it is shrinking. Moreover, some people naturally have very high AFP.
AFP is measured in pregnant women through the analysis of maternal blood or amniotic fluid, as a screening test for a subset of developmental abnormalities.
Some of the diseases in which AFP will be elevated in a person are listed below:
· Omphalocele
· Hepatocellular carcinoma / hepatoma: ↑ α-fetoprotein
· Neural tube defects: ↑ α-fetoprotein in amniotic fluid and maternal serum
· Nonseminomatous germ cell tumors
· Yolk sac tumor
· Ataxia telangiectasia: Elevation of AFP is used as one factor in the diagnosis of ataxia telangiectasia.
· Tumors: AFP can also be used as a biomarker to detect a subset of tumors in non-pregnant women, men, and children. A level above500 nanograms/milliliter of AFP in adults can be indicative of hepatocellular carcinoma, germ cell tumors, and metastatic cancers of the liver.
A peptide derived from AFP that is referred to as AFPep is claimed to possess anti-cancer properties.
Many things may affect your lab test results. These include the method each lab uses to do the test. Even if your test results are different from the normal value, you may not have a problem. To learn what the results mean for you, talk with your health care provider.
AFP is measured in nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). An AFP level of less than10 ng/mL is normal for adults. An extremely high level of AFP in your blood – greater than500 ng/mL – could be a sign of liver tumors.
High levels of AFP may mean other cancers, including Hodgkin disease, lymphoma, and renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer).
Not all people with these cancers will have an elevated AFP. And elevated AFP levels also could be a sign of cirrhosis or chronic acute hepatitis.
If you are pregnant, your serum AFP level may be higher than normal. If you have hepatitis or cirrhosis, your AFP level may also be elevated.
If you had cancer and the treatment worked, your AFP levels should be normal.
