We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
A Hepatocellular Carcinoma Aggressiveness Index and Its Relationship to Liver Enzyme Levels.
- Authors
Carr, Brian I.; Guerra, Vito
- Abstract
Background: Prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is influenced by both liver and tumor factors, which have been considered independent influences. However, recent evidence has shown that the underlying liver also has prognostic information. Aims: To investigate possible relationships between liver function parameters and HCC aggressiveness indices. Methods: A large HCC patient database with baseline clinical information and survival data was retrospectively examined. Results: Data on 756 HCC patients with normal bilirubin were examined for a relationship between serum liver enzymes and 4 HCC aggressiveness indices of maximum tumor diameter, portal vein invasion, tumor multifocality or serum alpha-fetoprotein levels. An association was found between elevated enzyme levels and increased HCC aggressiveness. An aggressiveness index was constructed from the 4 indices and expressed as a sum of their scores, which in turn reflected 3 survival groups. In a Cox model, the hazard ratios for each of the groups were significantly different. Conclusions: Statistically significant correlations were found between standard liver function parameters and HCC aggressiveness. A composite aggressiveness index was constructed, yielding 3 groups with different survival probabilities. These findings support the concept of the importance of the underlying liver in relation to HCC biology.
- Subjects
LIVER physiology; HEPATOCELLULAR carcinoma; ALKALINE phosphatase; ALPHA fetoproteins; ASPARTATE aminotransferase; CHI-squared test; DATABASES; LIVER function tests; MEDICAL care; EVALUATION of medical care; PATIENTS; SURVIVAL; ALANINE aminotransferase; PROPORTIONAL hazards models; RETROSPECTIVE studies; DISEASE progression; DATA analysis software; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; MANN Whitney U Test; KRUSKAL-Wallis Test; DIAGNOSIS
- Publication
Oncology, 2016, Vol 90, Issue 4, p215
- ISSN
0030-2414
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1159/000444394