Fig. 3.

Autoantibody to 14-3-3ζ in serial serum samples from three HCC patients (cases 1, 2 and 3). a First HCC patient (case #1) was diagnosed on Feb 7, 1995 with strong expression of anti-14-3-3ζ autoantibody. Totally, we had six serum samples within more than 1 year of time span collected from this HCC patient, and the 14-3-3ζ reactive bands were present in all of them. It became stronger at month 6 before HCC was detected. b Total of six serum samples were acquired from the second HCC patient (case #2). All of them had 14-3-3ζ reactive bands. Anti-14-3-3ζ autoantibody became stronger at month 6 before the date (Jul 2, 1993) of HCC diagnosed. c The third HCC patient (case #3) was diagnosed at the date of Apr 9, 1992, with a strong 14-3-3ζ reactive band. During a 1-year period (Apr 25, 1991 to Jul 16, 1992), six serum samples collected from this patient showed a gradually increased reactive band with 14-3-3ζ. Clearly, a stronger reactive band can be observed in the serum at 9 months before the diagnosis of HCC