At preoperative evaluation, 54% of the study group had a well-differentiated HCC, 42% had AFP mRNA in the blood, 40% had a tumor larger than 5 cm and 56% had more than one nodule.
Pretransplant hepatitis B virus DNA (P = 0.014), pretransplant serum alpha-fetoprotein (P = 0.035), number of nodules (P = 0.011), diameter of main nodule (P = 0.001), macrovascular invasion (P = 0.001), microvascular invasion (P = 0.001), HCC exceeding the Milan criteria (P < 0.001), and donor rs2069852 AA genotype (P = 0.010) were associated with HCC recurrence.
In subjects with chronic hepatitis B, old age (year; hazard ratio (HR)=1.06; P<0.001), arterial enhancement (HR=2.62; P=0.005), large nodule size (>1 cm; HR=7.34; P<0.001), low serum albumin level (≤3.5 g/dl; HR=3.57; P=0.001), high serum AFP level (≥100 ng/ml; HR=6.04; P=0.006), prior HCC history (HR=4.24; P=0.001), and baseline hepatitis B e antigen positivity (HR=2.31; P=0.007) were associated with HCC progression.
A risk score that combines imaging features (arterial enhancement and nodule size) with clinical (age, prior h/o HCC) and laboratory features (albumin, AFP, hepatitis B 'e' antigen) appear to be superior to radiological features alone in the risk stratification of these nodules.
Results showed that DSN1 was upregulated in HCC tissues and was strongly associated with sex (P = .031), α-fetoprotein (P < .001), tumor size (P = .032), tumor nodule number (P = .028), cancer embolus (P = .011), and differentiation grade (P = .001).
Statistical analyses revealed that tumor DNA-PKcs expression was significantly associated with the HBs antigen (HBsAg) status, presence/absence of portal vein invasion, size of the largest tumor nodule (<3.0 cm/>3.0, cm), and the serum alpha-fetoprotein level.
Additional imaging findings and patient characteristics, including alpha-fetoprotein serum level, can help determine the probability of a nodule being HCC in patients with BCS.
A 48-year-old male patient was admitted to our hospital under suspicion of an advanced liver tumor due to an increase in levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) after radiofrequency ablation for independent nodule in his liver 1 month before.
When samples were grouped according to the serum level of AKR1B10 (≥232.7pg/ml), serum AKR1B10 positively correlated to serum AFP (χ<sup>2</sup>=6.295, P=0.012), ALT (χ<sup>2</sup>=18.803, P=0.000), AST (χ<sup>2</sup>=33.421, P=0.000), tumor nodule number (χ<sup>2</sup>=6.777, P=0.009), cirrhosis (χ<sup>2</sup>=43.458, P=0.000), and tumor size (χ<sup>2</sup>=6.042, P=0.014) in the Chi-square test.
In subgroup analyses, PRFA was associated with worse OS vs repeat hepatectomy among patients with an RHCC nodule diameter greater than 3 cm (hazard ratio, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.05-2.84) or an α fetoprotein level greater than 200 ng/mL (hazard ratio, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.15-2.96).