Clinical Significance of Serum Ornithine Carbamoyltransferase in Liver Diseases – Is the Ratio of OCT/ALT a New Tumor Marker?

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide and the third most common cause of cancer-related mortality (World Health Organization. Mortality database, 2010). According to the most recent nationwide Japanese registration data, primary liver cancer ranks fourth for men and sixth for women as cause of death from malignant neoplasm (Journal of Health and Welfare Statistics. Health and Welfare Statistics Association, 2009).