Resumen
One of the great advantages of serum biomarkers is that they can be easily obtained in the form of a liquid biopsy of the patient?s blood, which is minimally invasive and allows for repeatable measurements. In particular, molecular biomarkers from signaling pathways provide information on tumor characteristics and heterogeneous molecular profiles and enable us to predict prognosis and develop a rationale for therapeutic strategies. The erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog (ERBB) family has been implicated in hepatocarcinogenesis and is associated with a worse prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its role as a serum biomarker has not been fully evaluated. In the present study, we revealed that serum ERBB2 and neuregulin 4 (NGR4) are independent prognostic factors for survival and tumor recurrence and suggested a possible synergistic effect between these two prognostic factors. Our study could provide predictive biomarkers for evaluating HCC prognosis and monitoring treatment response in patients with HCC.