Genetics Variants and Serum Levels of MHC Class I Chain-related A in Predicting Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients Post Antiviral Treatment
MICA rs2596542 SNP predicts HCC development in LC patients with persistent viremia. High sMICA levels predicts HCC occurrence in LC patients without SVR Combining the 2 surrogate markers enhance the predicting power of HCC.The genome-wide association study has shown that MHC class I chain-related A (MICA) genetic variants were associated with hepatitis C virus (HCC) related hepatocellular carcinoma. The impact of the genetic variants and its serum levels on post-treatment cohort is elusive. We demonstrated that cirrhotic patients who carry MICA risk alleles and those without risk alleles but with high sMICA levels possessed the highest risk of HCC development once they failed antiviral therapy. Combining the host genetic variants of MICA gene and serum levels of MICA proteins greatly enhanced the predictive power in the high-risk population, which provides insight for closer follow-up strategies and re-treatment priority in the era of direct antiviral agents.