The platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio is a complementary prognostic factor to tumor markers in predicting early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy

Abstract

Background: The usefulness of inflammation-based prognostic scores for early recurrence (ER) after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma has rarely been reported. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of inflammation-based prognostic scores as predictors of ER and their relationship with tumor markers.

Methods: We enrolled 338 patients who underwent hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma between January 2007 and December 2021. Clinicopathological factors were compared between patients who developed ER (ER group) and those who did not develop ER (non-ER group). The association between inflammation-based prognostic scores and ER status was evaluated. These scores were compared with those of well-established tumor markers.

Results: The platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) correlated with ER of hepatocellular carcinoma, with an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.70, sensitivity of 68.1%, and specificity of 67.7%. In patients with low tumor marker levels, the PLR showed a strong correlation with ER of hepatocellular carcinoma, with an AUC value of 0.851, sensitivity of 100%, and specificity of 76.2%. Multivariate analysis revealed that the PLR was an independent prognostic factor for ER.

Conclusions: The PLR is useful and complementary to tumor markers for predicting ER after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Keywords: early recurrence; hepatocellular carcinoma; inflammation-based prognostic scores; platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio; tumor marker.