The value of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer and alpha-fetoprotein in the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Introduction and objectives: presently, the reference staging system to evaluate the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients is "The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer" (BCLC) system. The value of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has not been properly defined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the BCLC classification in our clinical practice and to know what the prognostic value of AFP is.Material and methods: 136 consecutive HCC patients were prospectively included in this study. The diagnosis of HCC was based on the recommendation of international guidelines. The patients were studied and managed according to usual clinical practice. Survival curves were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and predictors of survival were identified using the Cox model.Results: 110 patients (80.9%) were male. The mean age of the patients was 66.62 ± 11.68 years. Liver cirrhosis was present in 91.2%. The most frequent cause of liver disease was hepatitis C infection (38.97%). Serum AFP was ≤ 20 ng/mL in the 57%, > 20-200 ng/mL in the 20%, and > 200 ng/mL in 23%. According to the BCLC staging system, 79 patients were classified as stage A (58. Conclusions: our results confirm that the BCLC is a good prognostic system. The AFP has prognosis value in HCC patients. The addition of AFP could improve the BCLC system. Future studies are needed to confirm our results and also the best way to combine BCLC and AFP properly.

A Genetic Variant in the Promoter Region of miR-106b-25 Cluster Predict Clinical Outcome of HBV-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Chinese

“…The subjects' enrollment was described previously [23], [24]. In consideration of prognostic modeling in HCC patients has a high complexity and should consider several tightly related aspects, including tumor stage, degree of liver function impairment, patient's general condition, and treatment efficacy, we use the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) Stage System to evaluate the prognosis of HCC in this study [25]. To construct a relatively homogenous population with similar treatment and considering surgery is less genetic related, our current study was restricted to HCC patients in either intermediate (B) or advanced stage (C) without surgery.…”

ATXN7 Gene Variants and Expression Predict Post-Operative Clinical Outcomes in Hepatitis B Virus-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…However, the prognostic value of AFP remains controversial. Some studies have suggested using AFP as an indicator to predict clinical outcomes in HCC [32,33]. However, other studies have suggested that serum AFP is not an effective predictor of prognosis in HCC [34][35][36].…”

Expression quantitative trait loci for PAX8 contributes to the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

“…All participants provided written informed consent to participate in this study and the ethics committees approved of this consent procedure.Theenrollment of participants was previously described[14,15]. In consideration for constructing a relatively homogenous population, our current study was restrained to HCC patients who did not undergo surgery in the intermediate stage (B) or advanced stage (C) according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system [16,17]. Briefly, 414 intermediate or advanced HCC patients were consecutively recruited from Nantong Tumor Hospital and the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu, China.All participants were newly diagnosed and histopathologically confirmed HCC cases.…”