Sample size calculation was done in department of medical statistics, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University and the total minimal sample size was calculated.~A prospective case control study will be conducted on 80 subjects divided into three groups:~Group (1): Thirty patients having liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosed by tripahsic CT.~Group (2): Thirty liver cirrhosis patients without hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosed by abdominal ultrasound examination.~Group (3): Twenty normal subjects (control group) matching in age and sex with patients in groups 1 and 2.~Patients will be recruited from the outpatient clinics and inpatient wards of Alexandria Main University Hospital and Medical Research Institute Hospital. Full informed consent will be taken from the patients and approval of the ethical committee of the Faculty of Medicine will be fulfilled. Exclusion criteria: Patients with any inflammatory diseases or other malignancies.
The aim of this work is to study the role of long non-coding RNAs WRAP53 and urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 (UCA1) as potential biomarkers in diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.