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Fibrosis and AST to platelet ratio index predict post-operative prognosis for solitary small hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma

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Abstract

Purpose

Although advanced liver fibrosis is crucial in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for patients with chronic hepatitis B, whether it is associated with the recurrence of HCC after resection remains obscure. This study was aimed to compare the outcomes for patients with minimal or advanced fibrosis in solitary small hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC.

Methods

This study enrolled 76 patients with small (<5 cm) solitary HBV-related HCC who underwent resection. The outcomes of patients with minimal and advanced fibrosis in non-tumor areas were compared. Serum markers were tested to assess the stage of hepatic fibrosis and to predict prognosis.

Results

Fourteen patients with an Ishak fibrosis score of 0 or 1 were defined as having minimal fibrosis; the remaining 62 patients were defined as having advanced fibrosis. During a follow-up period of 77.0 ± 50.7 months, 41 patients died. The overall survival rate was significantly higher (P = 0.018) and recurrence rate was lower (P = 0.018) for patients in the minimal fibrosis group. Aspartate aminotransferase–platelet ratio index (APRI) exhibited the most reliable discriminative ability for predicting advanced fibrosis. The overall survival rate was significantly higher (P = 0.003) and recurrence rate was lower (P = 0.005) for patients with an APRI of 0.47 or less.

Conclusions

For patients with solitary small HBV-related HCC who underwent resection, minimal fibrosis is associated with a lower incidence of recurrence and with better survival. APRI could serve as a reliable marker for assessing hepatic fibrosis and predicting survival.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the technical support provided by the Sequencing Core Facility of the National Yang-Ming University Genome Research Center (YMGC). The Sequencing Core Facility is supported by National Research Program for Genome Medicine (NRPGM), National Science Council, Taiwan. This study was supported by grants from the National Science Council (NSC93-2321-B-010-012, NSC94-2321-B-010-010, NSC95-2321-B-010-005), and Taipei Veterans General Hospital (V95C1-014, V97ER2-016, V97B1-015, Center of Excellence for Cancer Research at TVGH DOH99-TD-C-111-007), Taipei, Taiwan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Hung-Hsu Hung, Chien-Wei Su, Che-Chang Chan, Yi-Hsiang Huang, Teh-Ia Huo, Pui-Ching Lee, Wei-Yu Kao & Shou-Dong Lee

  2. Department of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chien-Wei Su, Gar-Yang Chau, Che-Chang Chan, Yi-Hsiang Huang & Jaw-Ching Wu

  3. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chiung-Ru Lai

  4. Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Gar-Yang Chau

  5. Institute of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Teh-Ia Huo

  6. Department of Medical Research and Education, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, 201 Shih-Pai Road Sec 2, Taipei, 112, Taiwan

    Jaw-Ching Wu

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  1. Hung-Hsu Hung
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jaw-Ching Wu.

Additional information

The authors H.-H. Hung and C.-W. Su have contributed equally to this work.

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Hung, HH., Su, CW., Lai, CR. et al. Fibrosis and AST to platelet ratio index predict post-operative prognosis for solitary small hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatol Int 4, 691–699 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-010-9213-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-010-9213-3

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