scholarly journals Normal Alpha-Fetoprotein Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Are They Really Normal?

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao-Wei Lee ◽  
Hsin-I Tsai ◽  
Wei-Chen Lee ◽  
Shu-Wei Huang ◽  
Cheng-Yu Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Tumor Marker ◽  
Tumor Markers ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Hepatitis Virus ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Disease Free Survival ◽  
Alpha Fetoprotein ◽  
Virus Infections ◽  
Preoperative Serum

Introduction: serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was routinely employed as a tumor marker for screening, diagnosis, and treatment follow-up of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, a substantial proportion of HCC patients had normal AFP level even at an advanced disease status. Few studies to date had tried to explore the nature and behavior of this normal AFP HCC (N-HCC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcome of N-HCC after operation. In addition, potential tumor markers for N-HCC were also sought in an attempt to augment diagnostic ability. Methods: between 2005 and 2015, patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who were treated with hepatectomy in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Linkou branch were divided into two groups according to their preoperative serum AFP level (<15 ng/mL: NHCC; ≥15 ng/mL: abnormal AFP HCC (A-HCC)). Patient demographic data and clinicopathological variables were collected. Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression multivariate analyses were performed to identify significant risk factors for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) for N-HCC. ELISA and immunohistochemical (IHC) studies were employed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of various tumor markers. Results: a total of 1616 patients (78% male) who underwent liver resection for HCC were included in this study. Of them, 761 patients (47.1%) were N-HCC. N-HCC patients were significantly older with more comorbidities and less hepatitis virus infections. Furthermore, N-HCC had fewer early recurrences (49.6% vs. 60.8%, p < 0.001) and better DFS (44.6 months vs. 23.6 months, p < 0.001) and OS (94.5 months vs. 81.7 months, p < 0.001). Both ELISA and IHC studies demonstrated that glypican-3 (GPC3) would be a promising diagnostic tumor marker for N-HCC. Conclusion: N-HCC patients were significantly older and had less hepatitis virus infections or cirrhosis. Their tumors tended to be smaller, less vascular invaded, and well-differentiated. The carcinogenesis of N-HCC may thus not be identical to that of typical HCC. GPC3 would be a promising tumor marker for diagnosing N-HCC. Further study is warranted to validate our findings.

scholarly journals Risk Score Model for Microvascular Invasion in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: The Role of Tumor Burden and Alpha-Fetoprotein

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 4403
Author(s):  
Jin-Chiao Lee ◽  
Hao-Chien Hung ◽  
Yu-Chao Wang ◽  
Chih-Hsien Cheng ◽  
Tsung-Han Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Risk Score ◽  
Treatment Plan ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Disease Free Survival ◽  
Microvascular Invasion ◽  
Alpha Fetoprotein ◽  
Validation Dataset ◽  
Score Model ◽  
Preoperative Factors

Microvascular invasion (MVI) is a significant risk factor for the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma, but it is a histological feature that needs to be confirmed after hepatectomy or liver transplantation. The preoperative prediction of MVI can optimize the treatment plan of HCC, but an easy and widely applicable model is still lacking. The aim of our study was to predict the risk of MVI using objective preoperative factors. We retrospectively collected 1153 patients who underwent liver resection for HCC, and MVI was found to be associated with significantly poor disease-free survival. The patients were randomly split in a 3:1 ratio into training (n = 864) and validation (n = 289) datasets. The multivariate analysis of the training dataset found preoperative total tumor volume (TTV) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) to be independent risk factors for MVI. We built a risk score model with cutoff points of TTV at 30, 60, and 300 cm3 and AFP at 160 and 2000 ng/mL, and the model stratified the risk of MVI into low risk (14.1%), intermediate risk (36.4%), and high risk (60.5%). The validation of the risk score model with the validation dataset showed moderate performance (the concordance statistic: 0.731). The model comprised simple and objective preoperative factors with good applicability, which can help to guide treatment plans for HCC and future study design.

scholarly journals The Role of Protease-Activated Receptor 2 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Hepatectomy

Medicina ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 574
Author(s):  
Ming-Chao Tsai ◽  
Chih-Che Lin ◽  
Ding-Wei Chen ◽  
Yueh-Wei Liu ◽  
Yi-Ju Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Prognostic Factors ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Histological Grade ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Disease Free Survival ◽  
Tnm Stage ◽  
Clinicopathological Parameters ◽  
Advanced Tumor ◽  
Protease Activated Receptor 2

Background and Objectives: Protease activated receptor-2 (PAR2) is elevated in a variety of cancers and has been promoted as a potential therapeutic target. However, the clinical and prognostic values of PAR2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are poorly characterized. This study aimed to evaluate the expression of PAR2 in HCC tissues and examine the prognostic value of PAR2 after resection in HCC. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and eight resected specimens were collected from HCC patients at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. PAR2 protein expression was assessed by western blotting in HCC tissues and matched normal tissues. The correlation between PAR2 expression and clinicopathological parameters was analyzed. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared using the log-rank test. A Cox regression model was used to identify independent prognostic factors. Results: PAR2 was expressed at higher levels in HCC tissues than the paired adjacent nontumor tissues. High expression of PAR2 was associated with advanced tumor, node, metastasis (TNM )stage and histological grade. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated high PAR2 expression was associated with poorer DFS and OS compared to low PAR2 expression. Multivariate analyses indicated high PAR2 expression [hazard ratio (HR), 1.779, p = 0.006), α-fetoprotein (AFP) (HR, 1.696, p = 0.003), liver cirrhosis (HR, 1.735, p = 0.002), and advanced TNM stage (HR, 2.061, p < 0.001) were prognostic factors for DFS, and advanced TNM stage (HR, 2.741, p < 0.001) and histological grade (HR, 2.675, p = 0.002) and high PAR2 expression (HR, 1.832, p = 0.012) were significant risk factors for OS. In subgroup analyses, the combination of PAR2 expression and serum AFP provided improved prognostic ability for OS and DFS. Conclusion: Combination PAR2 and AFP predict HCC outcomes after resection. PAR2 represents a potentially clinically relevant biomarker for HCC.

scholarly journals A prognostic nomogram based on LASSO Cox regression in patients with alpha-fetoprotein-negative hepatocellular carcinoma following non-surgical therapy

BMC Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongdong Zhou ◽  
Xiaoli Liu ◽  
Xinhui Wang ◽  
Fengna Yan ◽  
Peng Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Surgical Therapy ◽  
Calibration Curve ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Validation Cohort ◽  
Risk Group ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
High Risk Group ◽  
Alpha Fetoprotein ◽  
Clinicopathologic Characteristics

Abstract Background Alpha-fetoprotein-negative hepatocellular carcinoma (AFP-NHCC) (< 8.78 ng/mL) have special clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis. The aim of this study was to apply a new method to establish and validate a new model for predicting the prognosis of patients with AFP-NHCC. Methods A total of 410 AFP-negative patients with clinical diagnosed with HCC following non-surgical therapy as a primary cohort; 148 patients with AFP-NHCC following non-surgical therapy as an independent validation cohort. In primary cohort, independent factors for overall survival (OS) by LASSO Cox regression were all contained into the nomogram1; by Forward Stepwise Cox regression were all contained into the nomogram2. Nomograms performance and discriminative power were assessed with concordance index (C-index) values, area under curve (AUC), Calibration curve and decision curve analyses (DCA). The results were validated in the validation cohort. Results The C-index of nomogram1was 0.708 (95%CI: 0.673–0.743), which was superior to nomogram2 (0.706) and traditional modes (0.606–0.629). The AUC of nomogram1 was 0.736 (95%CI: 0.690–0.778). In the validation cohort, the nomogram1 still gave good discrimination (C-index: 0.752, 95%CI: 0.691–0.813; AUC: 0.784, 95%CI: 0.709–0.847). The calibration curve for probability of OS showed good homogeneity between prediction by nomogram1 and actual observation. DCA demonstrated that nomogram1 was clinically useful. Moreover, patients were divided into three distinct risk groups for OS by the nomogram1: low-risk group, middle-risk group and high-risk group, respectively. Conclusions Novel nomogram based on LASSO Cox regression presents more accurate and useful prognostic prediction for patients with AFP-NHCC following non-surgical therapy. This model could help patients with AFP-NHCC following non-surgical therapy facilitate a personalized prognostic evaluation.

Development and Validation of Prognostic Nomograms Predicting Recurrence and Survival in Patients with Solitary Hepatocellular Carcinoma Following Curative Liver Resection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinxin Chen ◽  
Wenxia Qiu ◽  
Xuekun Xie ◽  
Zefeng Chen ◽  
Zhiwei Han ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Liver Resection ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Disease Free Survival ◽  
Clinicopathological Characteristics ◽  
Tumor Diameter ◽  
Cox Regression Analysis ◽  
Tumor Capsule ◽  
Calibration Curves ◽  
Solitary Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract Background: This work was designed to establish and verify our nomograms integrating clinicopathological characteristics with hematological biomarkers to predict both disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients following hepatectomy.Methods: We scrutinized the data retrospectively from 414 patients with a clinicopathological diagnosis of solitary HCC from Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital (Nanning, China) between January 2004 and December 2012. Following the random separation of the samples in a 7:3 ratio into the training set and validation set, the former set was assessed by Cox regression analysis to develop two nomograms to predict the 1-year and 3-year DFS and OS (3-years and 5-years). This was followed by discrimination and calibration estimation employing Harrell’s C-index (C-index) and calibration curves, while the internal validation was also assessed.Results: In the training cohort, the tumor diameter, tumor capsule, macrovascular invasion, and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were included in the DFS nomogram. Age, tumor diameter, tumor capsule, macrovascular invasion, microvascular invasion, and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were included in the OS nomogram. The C-index was 0.691 (95% CI: 0.644-0.738) for the DFS-nomogram and 0.713 (95% CI: 0.670-0.756) for the OS-nomogram. The survival probability calibration curves displayed a fine agreement between the predicted and observed ranges in both data sets. Conclusion: Our nomograms combined clinicopathological features with hematological biomarkers to emerge effective in predicting the DFS and OS in solitary HCC patients following curative liver resection. Therefore, the potential utility of our nomograms for guiding individualized treatment clinically and monitor the recurrence monitoring in these patients.

scholarly journals NDRG3 overexpression is associated with a poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-sheng Jing ◽  
Hongbo Li ◽  
Shun-cai Wang ◽  
Jiu-ming Ma ◽  
La-qing Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Survival Curve ◽  
Disease Free Survival ◽  
Prognostic Indicator ◽  
Clinicopathological Characteristics ◽  
Pcr Analysis ◽  
Kaplan Meier ◽  
Tumor Tissues ◽  
The Relationship

N-myc downstream-regulated gene 3 (NDRG3), an important member of the NDRG family, is involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, and other biological processes. The present study analyzed NDRG3 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and explored the relationship between expression of NDRG3 in HCC patients and their clinicopathological characteristics. We performed quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses on HCC tissues to elucidate NDRG3 expression characteristics in HCC patients. Kaplan–Meier survival curve and Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the prognoses of 102 patients with HCC. The results revealed that compared with non-tumor tissues, HCC tissues showed significantly higher NDRG3 expression. In addition, our analyses showed that NDRG3 expression was statistically associated with tumor size (P=0.048) and pathological grade (P=0.001). Survival analysis and Kaplan–Meier curves revealed that NDRG3 expression is an independent prognostic indicator for disease-free survival (P=0.002) and overall survival (P=0.005) in HCC patients. The data indicate that NDRG3 expression may be considered as a oncogenic biomarker and a novel predictor for HCC prognosis.

scholarly journals Elevated Preoperative Serum CA125 Predicts Larger Tumor Diameter in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Low AFP Levels

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Sanshun Zhou ◽  
Zusen Wang ◽  
Manjiang Li ◽  
Liqun Wu
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Disease Free Survival ◽  
Clinicopathological Characteristics ◽  
R0 Resection ◽  
Tumor Diameter ◽  
Cancer Antigen 125 ◽  
Preoperative Serum ◽  
Serum Ca125 ◽  
Serum Ca125 Level ◽  
Patient Groups

Aim. Little is known about the association between cancer antigen 125 (MUC16/CA125) concentrations and tumor diameter of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and low AFP levels. To fill this gap in our knowledge, we conducted a retrospective study of 427 patients with HCC with AFP ≤200 ng/mL who underwent R0 resection at our center. Methods. The associations between CA125 concentrations and patients’ clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed. Survival vs CA125 levels was also evaluated between patient groups with CA125 ≤30 U/mL or CA125 >30 U/mL. Independent risk factors of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed with Cox hazard regression model. Results. Elevated preoperative serum CA125 was significantly associated with maximal tumor diameter (MTD) >5 cm and female sex (P<0.001 and P=0.044, respectively). The DFS and OS of patients with CA125 ≤30 U/mL (n = 392) were significantly higher compared with those with CA125 >30 U/mL (n = 35) (P=0.003 and P=0.001 respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that MTD >5 cm was an independent risk factor of DFS (HR = 1.891, 95% CI: 1.379–2.592, P<0.001) and OS (2.709, 1.848–3.972, P<0.001). Conclusions. In conclusion, elevated preoperative serum CA125 predicted larger tumor diameter and poor prognosis after patients with HCC with AFP ≤200 ng/mL underwent R0 resection, which may be explained by the elevation of the preoperative serum CA125 level significantly associated with MTD>5 cm.

The prognostic value of serum IL-6 and YKL-40 in colorectal cancer patients before liver resection.

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e15078-e15078
Author(s):  
Mathias Holsey Gramkow ◽  
Reetta Peltonen ◽  
Christian Dehlendorff ◽  
Pia J. Osterlund ◽  
Julia S. Johansen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Liver Resection ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Univariate Analysis ◽  
Elevated Serum ◽  
Disease Free Survival ◽  
Markers Of Inflammation ◽  
Preoperative Serum ◽  
Serum Cea

e15078 Background: IL-6 and YKL-40, markers of inflammation and cancer growth, are high in serum in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and associated with shorter overall survival (OS). We hypothesized that preoperative serum IL-6, YKL-40 and CEA are associated with disease free survival (DFS) and OS in patients with metastatic (mCRC) treated with liver resection. Methods: 457 patients (male/female: 267 (58%)/190 (42%), median age 65 [IQR: 58-71]) diagnosed with mCRC who underwent liver resection were included between March 1998 and February 2013. Preoperative serum samples were collected and stored at -80°C until analysis. Serum IL-6 (R&D Systems, UK) and YKL-40 (Quidel, USA) were determined by ELISA. For DFS and OS we estimated crude and adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with Cox regression for each biomarker separately. The biomarkers were included as log2-transformed continuous variables and adjustment included mutual adjustment between the biomarkers in addition to adjusting for sex and age. Results: The median (IQR) preoperative biomarker levels were: IL-6 (3.5 pg/ml, 2.1-6.1), YKL-40 (75 ng/ml, 48-127) and CEA (5.2 kU/L, 2.6-18.8). Univariate analysis showed that high serum IL-6 and YKL-40 were associated with shorter DFS (IL-6: HR = 1.18, 1.06-1.31, p < 0.01; YKL-40: HR = 1.19, 1.08-1.32, p < 0.01). Serum CEA was not (p = 0.80). Multivariate analysis (all biomarkers) showed that high IL-6 was associated with shorter DFS (HR = 1.15, 1.02-1.29, p = 0.02), whereas YKL-40 (p = 0.08) and CEA (p = 0.51) were not. Univariate analysis showed that high preoperative serum IL-6 and YKL-40 were associated with shorter OS (IL-6: HR = 1.16, 1.03-1.29, p = 0.01; YKL-40: HR = 1.27, 1.14-1.42, p < 0.01). Serum CEA was not associated with OS (p = 0.16). Multivariate analysis (all biomarkers) showed that high YKL-40 was associated with shorter OS (HR = 1.19, 1.05-1.34, p = 0.01), whereas IL-6 (p = 0.25) and CEA (p = 0.26) were not. Patients with elevated serum levels of all 3 biomarkers had the shortest OS (HR = 2.12; 1.29-3.50, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Serum IL-6 and YKL-40 determined before liver resection may be valuable prognostic biomarkers in patients with metastatic CRC.

Coexpression of PDGFR-Alpha, PDGFR-Beta and VEGF as a Prognostic Factor in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Chen ◽  
Yan Shi ◽  
Cheng-ying Jiang ◽  
Li-xin Wei ◽  
Ya-li Lv ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Growth Factor ◽  
Proportional Hazards Model ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Univariate Analysis ◽  
Prognostic Significance ◽  
Disease Free Survival ◽  
Hazard Ratio ◽  
Cox Proportional Hazards Model ◽  
Cox Regression Analysis

Aims To evaluate the prognostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), platelet-derived growth factor receptor-alpha (PDGFR-α) and beta (PDGFR-β) expression in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods The expression of PDGFR-α, PDGFR-β and VEGF in 63 HCC patients who underwent curative resection was examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The correlations between the expression of these biomarkers and the clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed. Patient survival was analyzed by univariate analysis and Cox proportional hazards model. Results Univariate survival analysis showed that PDGFR-α or PDGFR-β overexpression was of no prognostic significance in predicting disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) (p>0.05), while VEGF overexpression and PDGFR-α/PDGFR-β/VEGF coexpression were significantly correlated with worse DFS and poorer OS in HCC patients (P<0.05). More importantly, PDGFR-α/PDGFR-β/VEGF coexpression was an independent prognostic marker for poor survival as indicated by multivariate Cox regression analysis (DFS, hazard ratio 3.122, p=0.001; OS, hazard ratio 4.260, p=0.000). Conclusions Coexpression of PDGFR-α, PDGFR-β and VEGF could be considered an independent prognostic biomarker for predicting DFS and OS in HCC patients. This result could be used to identify patients at a higher risk of tumor recurrence and poor prognosis, and help to select therapeutic schemes for the treatment of HCC.

scholarly journals Identification and validation of AKR1C1/2/3 as hepatocellular carcinoma risk modules via an integrated strategy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingxing Xu ◽  
Yuesi Zhong ◽  
Fangji Yang ◽  
Kai Liu ◽  
Baoding Zhuang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Reduction Process ◽  
Progression Free Survival ◽  
Tumor Stage ◽  
Genetic Alterations ◽  
Metabolic Process ◽  
Free Survival ◽  
Cox Regression Analysis

Abstract Background The human aldo-keto reductase 1 (AKR1) C family comprises four enzymes, AKR1C1–AKR1C4. Lots of studies have investigated the function of AKR1Cs in tumors, however little is known in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Public databases were used to explore expression and role of AKR1Cs in HCC. Meanwhile, data of 134 HCC patients from Firebrowse website was used for validation. Results The results revealed that AKR1Cs expression was negatively correlated with the infiltration level of CD4+ T cells. Overexpression of AKR1C1/2/3 was significantly associated with tumor stage and pathological grade. Moreover, higher mRNA expression of AKR1C1/2/3 was related with shorter overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and relapse-free survival (RFS). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that AKR1C1/2/3 could be significant risk factors for HCC patients. Additionally, genetic alterations of AKR1Cs can significantly affect patient OS and PFS, and expression of AKR1Cs was linked to functional networks involving oxidation-reduction process, cellular hormone metabolic process and organic hydroxy compound metabolic process, as well as retinol metabolism, steroid hormone biosynthesis, metabolic pathway and fatty acid degradation pathways. Conclusions In conclusion, we successfully elaborated the relationship between AKR1Cs expression and immune infiltrations, and identified AKR1C1/2/3 could be novel prognostic biomarkers for HCC patients.

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