Risk Factors for Brain Metastasis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy with high mortality, especially in HCC patients with brain metastases (BMS). However, few studies have investigated the risk factors for BMS among HCC patients based on large-scale population. The study involved clinical data of 36,091 patients who met the inclusion criteria from the SEER database, from 2004 to 2016. Univariate analysis and multifactor logistics regression analysis was used to analyze risk factors affecting BMS among HCC patients. This study revealed that BMS occurred in 108 of 36,091 patients, with an incidence of 0.33%. Median survival was 7 months for patients with BMS, but 12 months for patients without BMS. Univariate analysis showed that pathological low differentiation and undifferentiation, lymph node metastasis, no surgical treatment, and no chemotherapy and radiotherapy increased risk of BMS (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis suggested that no surgical treatment and no chemotherapy or radiotherapy were independent risk factors for BMS (P < 0.001). Our findings highlighted that the independent risk factors for BMS were no surgical treatment, no chemotherapy, and no radiotherapy.

Comparison of metastasis and prognosis between early-onset and late-onset hepatocellular carcinoma: A population-based study

“…For instance, Chen et al [ 26 ] reported that HCC type was not associated with the risk of brain metastasis. Another piece of literature also showed the same result [ 27 ]. One possible explanation for this contradiction, compared with our study, could be the inconsistent classification criteria for early-onset HCC between studies.…”

The double-edged sword role of hydrogen sulfide in hepatocellular carcinoma

“…With the progress of technology, the accuracy of extracorporeal radiotherapy is getting higher and higher, which allows radiotherapy to be applied to patients with HCC ( Chen et al, 2021 ). Although radiotherapy can significantly improve the survival rate of HCC patients, the metastasis and recurrence of HCC after radiotherapy are more common in clinical practice ( Wang et al, 2022b ). Therefore, it is particularly important to determine the factors that promote the metastasis of HCC cells after radiotherapy to improve the therapeutic effect of HCC.…”

A New Nomogram for Predicting Extrahepatic Metastases in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma： A population-based study of the SEER database and a Chinese single-institutional cohort

“…Even though several prediction models already exist to assess the EHM risk factors in HCC [10,11], they did not discuss whether vascular invasion (VI) could impact the EHM of HCC or not. Hepatic vascular invasion may be classi ed into two categories: macrovascular invasion and microvascular invasion(mVI).…”