Glycan structures of haptoglobin as a biomarker of hepatocellular carcinoma

An in vitro method for aiding in the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a subject comprising the steps of:

• a) determining the amount of the glycan structure HexNAc(6)Hex(7)Fuc(1)NeuAc(4) at position N207 of haptoglobin (i.e. of the ß-chain of haptoglobin having the sequence given in SEQ ID NO:
• 1) in a sample obtained from said subject;
• b) determining the amount of the glycan structure HexNAc(4)Hex(5)NeuAc(2) or HexNAc(5)Hex(5)NeuAc(1) at position N207 of said haptoglobin (i.e. of the ß-chain of haptoglobin having the sequence given in SEQ ID NO:
• 1) in said sample obtained from said subject;
• c) determining a score for detecting HCC taking into account or consisting of the ratio of the amounts of the two glycan structures determined in a) and b) by dividing a) by b) or vice versa;
• and
• d) comparing the score determined in c) to a reference score value indicative for HCC (e.g. early HCC).

A computer-implemented method for aiding in the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a subject, said method comprising:

• a) receiving data comprising the amount of the glycan structure HexNAc(6)Hex(7)Fuc(1)NeuAc(4) at position N207 of haptoglobin (i.e. of the ß-chain of haptoglobin having the sequence given in SEQ ID NO:
• 1) in a sample obtained from said subject;
• b) i) comparing the amount of HexNAc(6)Hex(7)Fuc(1)NeuAc(4) received in a) to a reference amount of said glycan structure, wherein an increased amount of HexNAc(6)Hex(7)Fuc(1)NeuAc(4) at position N207 of haptoglobin in said subject's sample relative to the reference amount of this glycan structure is indicative for HCC, or (ii) calculating a score for detecting HCC taking into account the amount of HexNAc(6)Hex(7)Fuc(1)NeuAc(4) at position N207 of haptoglobin received in a) and comparing the calculated score for detecting HCC to a reference value for said score indicative for HCC;
• and
• c) aid in detecting whether the subject has HCC based the comparison in b).