Purpose: To study the relationships between CT perfusion parameters and circulating angiogenic factors in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and Methods: This study was HIPAA compliant and was approved by the institutional review board. All participants provided informed consents. CT perfusion parameters of HCCs among 21 patients were assessed using 21-phase liver images at a 64-slice multidetector CT. We analyzed CT perfusion parameters including total blood flow, arterial blood flow, portal blood flow and arterial fraction (arterial blood flow /total blood flow) of HCCs, surrounding liver parenchyma and HCC-parenchyma ratio. Interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL-8), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) in plasma were measured using Bio-Plex multiplex immunoassay in 21 HCC patients and 8 healthy controls. Result: CT perfusion parameters of HCCs showed statistically different from that of surrounding liver parenchyma in total blood flow (p=0.002), portal blood flow (p<0.001) and arterial fraction (p<0.001). Circulating IL-6, IL-8 and VEGF showed significantly higher levels in HCC patients than controls (p<0.05), and predicted HCC significantly better than chance (p<0.001). None of circulating angiogenic factors had significant correlation with any of CT perfusion parameters in HCC patients. Only HCC-parenchyma ratio of arterial blood flow showed significant positive correlation with circulating IL-8 (p<0.05). Conclusion: CT perfusion parameters of HCC and circulating angiogenic factors are useful tools for HCC diagnosis. Only circulating IL-8 and HCC-parenchyma ratio of arterial blood flow showed significant correlation.
