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Japanese Journal of Cancer Research : Gann logoLink to Japanese Journal of Cancer Research : Gann
. 2000 Jan;91(1):68–74. doi: 10.1111/j.1349-7006.2000.tb00861.x

Vitamin K Contents in Liver Tissue of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients

Takayuki Miyakawa 1,✉, Yasuhiro Kajiwara 1, Akira Shirahata 1, Kohji Okamoto 2, Hideaki Itoh 2, Keiichi Ohsato 2
PMCID: PMC5926228  PMID: 10744046

Abstract

Serum protein induced in vitamin K absence‐II (PIVKA‐II) is used as a tumor marker because it increases at a notably higher rate in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. To clarify the mechanism causing the elevation of serum PIVKA‐II, we measured the contents of vitamins K1 (phylloquinone, PK) and K2 (menaquinone, MK) (MK‐4, MK‐5, MK‐6, MK‐7, MK‐8, MK‐9, MK‐10) in liver tissue resected from 21 hepatic cancer patients (12 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and 9 patients with metastatic hepatic cancer), using HPLC combined with coulometric reduction and fluorometric detection. In the cancerous tissue of hepatocellular carcinoma patients, PK, MK‐7, MK‐8, and MK‐10 in the cancerous tissue of hepatocellular carcinoma patients were significantly lower than that in the cancerous tissue of metastatic hepatic cancer patients. These data suggested that one of the mechanisms of the elevation of serum PIVKA‐II levels in hepatocellular carcinoma patients is a vitamin K deficiency in the local cancerous tissue.

Keywords: Phylloquinone, Menaquinone, Protein induced in vitamin K absence‐II, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Metastatic hepatic cancer

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