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Alpha-Fetoprotein Diagnostics

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

  • 122 Accesses

Synonyms

AFP; Alpha1-fetoglobulin; Embryonal serum alpha-globulin; Embryonal serum α-globulin; Embryo-specific alpha-globulin; Embryo-specific α-globulin; α1-Fetoglobulin; α-Feto-protein; Fetuin; Fetuin-A; Foeto-protein

Definition

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a 68.7 kDa plasma protein synthesized primarily by the fetal liver and embryonic yolk sac that is highly homologous with human albumin. Widely expressed in the fetal liver, AFP mRNA is down-regulated in postnatal hepatocytes. Serum AFP levels are used clinically for detection, confirmation, and follow-up of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and nonseminomatous germ cell tumors, although lack of sensitivity and specificity complicate its use.

Characteristics

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a 590 amino-acid plasma protein that shares 40% amino acid and 40–44% nucleotide sequence homology with human serum albumin and is a member of the albumin gene superfamily. The AFP gene covers approximately 22 kB of DNA and has 15 exons and 14...

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References

  • Abelev GI, Eraiser TL (1999) Cellular aspects of alpha-fetoprotein reexpression in tumors. Cancer Biol 9:95–107

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See Also

  • (2012) Germ cell tumors. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 1541. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_6905

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  • (2012) P53. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2747X. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4331

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) TGF–ß. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 3661. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_5753

    Google Scholar 

  • Möslein G (2009) Colon cancer. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 2nd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, pp 722–727. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-47648-1_1265

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gastroenterology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    David E. Kaplan

Authors
  1. David E. Kaplan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David E. Kaplan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Tumorgenetik, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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Kaplan, D.E. (2015). Alpha-Fetoprotein Diagnostics. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46875-3_207

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