Preoperative platelet-albumin-bilirubin grades predict the prognosis of patients with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma after liver resection: A retrospective study

Albumin-Bilirubin Grade Analyses of Atezolizumab plus Bevacizumab versus Sorafenib in Patients with Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Post Hoc Analysis of the Phase III IMbrave150 Study

Introduction

Atezolizumab + bevacizumab showed survival benefit in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) versus sorafenib in the Phase III IMbrave150 study. This exploratory analysis examined the prognostic impact of a baseline albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score.

Methods

Patients with treatment-naïve unresectable HCC, ≥1 measurable untreated lesion, and Child-Pugh class A liver function were randomized 2:1 to receive atezolizumab 1,200 mg + bevacizumab 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks or sorafenib 400 mg twice daily. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were assessed in the intention-to-treat population by ALBI/modified (m)ALBI grade. Time to deterioration (TTD; defined as time to 0.5-point increase from the baseline ALBI score over 2 visits or death) of liver function and safety were investigated.

Results

Of 501 enrolled patients, 336 were randomized to receive atezolizumab + bevacizumab (ALBI grade [G] 1: n = 191; G2: n = 144 [mALBI G2a: n = 72, G2b: n = 72]; missing ALBI grade: n = 1) and 165 to sorafenib (ALBI G1: n = 87; G2: n = 78 [mALBI G2a: n = 37; G2b: n = 41]). Median follow-up was 15.6 months. OS and PFS improved with atezolizumab + bevacizumab versus sorafenib in patients with ALBI G1 (OS HR: 0.50 [95% CI: 0.35, 0.72]; PFS HR: 0.61 [95% CI: 0.45, 0.82]). In patients with ALBI G2 or mALBI G2a or G2b, PFS was numerically longer with atezolizumab + bevacizumab versus sorafenib, but no OS benefit was seen. Median TTD in the intention-to-treat population was 10.2 months (95% CI: 8.0, 11.0) with atezolizumab + bevacizumab versus 8.6 months (95% CI: 6.2, 11.8) with sorafenib (HR: 0.82 [95% CI: 0.65, 1.03]). Safety profiles of atezolizumab and bevacizumab were consistent with previous analyses, regardless of ALBI grade.

Conclusion

ALBI grade appeared to be prognostic for outcomes with both atezolizumab + bevacizumab and sorafenib treatment in patients with HCC. Atezolizumab + bevacizumab preserved liver function for a numerically longer duration than sorafenib.

Prognostic Significance of Serum Albumin Level and Albumin-Based Mono- and Combination Biomarkers in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the predominant form of primary liver cancer. Although many surgical and nonsurgical therapeutic options have been established for treating HCC, the overall prognosis for HCC patients receiving different treatment modalities remains inadequate, which causes HCC to remain among the most life-threatening human cancers worldwide. Therefore, it is vitally important and urgently needed to develop valuable and independent prognostic biomarkers for the early prediction of poor prognosis in HCC patients, allowing more time for more timely and appropriate treatment to improve the survival of patients. As the most abundant protein in plasma, human serum albumin (ALB) is predominantly expressed by the liver and exhibits a wide variety of essential biological functions. It has been well recognized that serum ALB level is a significant independent biomarker for a broad spectrum of human diseases including cancer. Moreover, ALB has been commonly used as a potent biomaterial and therapeutic agent in clinical settings for the treatment of various human diseases. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the evidence from the up-to-date published literature to underscore the prognostic significance of serum ALB level and various ALB-based mono- and combination biomarkers in the prediction of the prognosis of HCC patients after treatment with different surgical, locoregional, and systemic therapies.

Prognostic Value of Platelet-Albumin-Bilirubin Grade in Child-Pugh A and B Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Meta-Analysis

Background

Numerous studies showed that preoperative platelet-albumin-bilirubin (PALBI) grade was closely related to the prognostic outcome of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the conclusions were inconsistent. Therefore, we implemented the study to comprehensively evaluate the association between PALBI grade and prognosis in patients with HCC.

Methods

Relevant articles were collected from the specified databases until February 10, 2022. We included all studies exploring the relationship between PALBI grade and prognosis in HCC patients. We used the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) to calculate the comprehensive analysis. All data analyses were performed using STATA 12.0.

Results

Thirteen retrospective articles containing 15534 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled results displayed that the high PALBI grade was obviously correlated with poor overall survival (OS) (HR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.46-2.02) and disease-free survival/relapse-free survival (DFS/RFS) (HR:1.31; 95% CI: 1.11–1.54). Subgroup analyses further confirmed the reliability of the comprehensive results.

Conclusions

PALBI may be a valid prognostic indicator in HCC patients. More investigations were needed to test our findings.

Preoperative ALBI grade predicts the outcomes in non-B non-C HCC patients undergoing primary curative resection

BACKGROUND

The albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade has been validated as a significant prognostic predictor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there is little information about the ALBI grade in patients with non-B non-C HCC (NBNC-HCC) receiving surgery.

AIM

This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of the ALBI grade in patients with NBNC-HCC after primary curative resection.

METHOD

From January 2010 to April 2016, 2137 patients with HCC who received hepatectomy were screened for study eligibility. Finally, a total of 168 NBNC-HCC patients who received primary curative resection were analyzed. The impacts of the ALBI grade on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed by multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

There were 66 (39.3%), 98 (58.3%), and 4 (2.4%) patients with an ALBI grade of I, II, and III, respectively. Patients with an ALBI grade II/III were older (p = 0.002), more likely to have hypoalbuminemia (p < 0.001), and more commonly had Child-Pugh class B (p = 0.009) than patients with an ALBI grade I. After a median follow-up of 76 months, 74 (44%) patients experienced recurrence, and 72 (42.9%) patients died. Multivariate analysis revealed that alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) > 200 ng/mL (p = 0.021), number of tumors (p = 0.001), and tumor stage (p = 0.007) were independent prognostic factors for DFS. Additionally, AFP > 200 ng/mL (p = 0.002), ALBI grade II/III (p = 0.002), and tumor stage (p < 0.001) were independent risk factors for poor OS.

CONCLUSION

The preoperative ALBI grade can be used to predict mortality in patients with NBNC-HCC after primary curative resection.

Albumin-bilirubin index and platelet-albumin-bilirubin index contribute to identifying survival benefit candidates in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and Child-Pugh grade A undergoing transcatheter arterial chemoembolization with sorafenib treatment

Background

Combined therapy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) with sorafenib is used for a large number of patients with intermediate-stage or advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but its implementation is limited by the evaluation of pre-treatment liver function reserve. This study aimed to validate the performance of the albumin-bilirubin index (ALBI) and platelet-albumin-bilirubin index (PALBI) in predicting survival benefits in patients with HCC and Child-Pugh grade A receiving TACE combined with sorafenib treatment.

Methods

From 2004 to 2018, 418 patients with intermediate/advanced-stage HCC and Child-Pugh grade A receiving TACE combined with sorafenib treatment were retrospectively enrolled. The predictive performance of ALBI and PALBI was explored by survival analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis.

Results

The median overall survival (mOS) was 24 and 12 months in patients with ALBI grade 1 and grade 2, respectively. The mOS of patients with PALBI grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3 was 23, 16, and 7 months, respectively. The multivariate analysis showed that ALBI grade 2 [hazard ratio (HR) =1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11–1.74] and PALBI grade 3 (HR =3.72, 95% CI: 2.26–6.06) were associated with unfavorable prognosis. The ROC analysis revealed that ALBI and PALBI scores had better prediction performance compared with the Child-Pugh score. Subgroup analysis confirmed that by using ALBI or PALBI, patients could be stratified into subgroups with different liver function reserves and distinctive prognosis, regardless of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage, combination modality, or α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels.

Conclusions

Both ALBI and PALBI could predict prognosis in patients with HCC and Child-Pugh grade A receiving TACE and sorafenib. Patients with ALBI or PALBI grade 1 harbored a more favorable survival outcome compared with those with ALBI or PALBI grade 2–3, and hence should be recommended as the best candidates for TACE combined with sorafenib treatment.

Red blood cell transfusions and the survival in patients with cancer undergoing curative surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Allogenic red blood cell transfusions exert a potential detrimental effect on the survival when delivered to cancer patients undergoing surgery with curative intent. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between perioperative allogenic red blood cell transfusions and risk of death as well as relapse after surgery for localized solid tumors. PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and EMBASE were searched from inception to March 2019 for studies reporting the outcome of patients receiving transfusions during radical surgery for non-metastatic cancer. Risk of death and relapse were pooled to provide an adjusted hazard ratio with a 95% confidence interval [hazard ratio (HR) (95% confidence interval {CI})]. Mortality and relapse associated with perioperative transfusion due to cancer surgery were evaluated among participants (n = 123 studies). Overall, RBC transfusions were associated with an increased risk of death [HR = 1.50 (95% CI 1.42-1.57), p < 0.01] and relapse [HR = 1.36 (95% CI 1.26-1.46), p < 0.01]. The survival was reduced even in cancer at early stages [HR = 1.45 (1.36-1.55), p < 0.01]. In cancer patients undergoing surgery, red blood cell transfusions reduced the survival and increased the risk of relapse. Transfusions based on patients' blood management policy should be performed by applying a more restrictive policy, and the planned preoperative administration of iron, if necessary, should be pursued.

The Significance of Platelet-Albumin-Bilirubin (PALBI) Grade in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Stratified According to Platelet Count

Background

Platelet–albumin–bilirubin (PALBI) has been demonstrated to be superior to conventional Child–Pugh (C-P) grade in evaluating liver function and prognosis of HCC patients. However, both thrombocytosis and thrombocytopenia are unfavorable for HCC survival. The aim of this study was to preliminarily investigate the prognostic value of PALBI in HCC patients with thrombocytopenia and excluding thrombocytopenia.

Methods

In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed 465 cases of HCC patients who underwent radical surgery. PALBI grade was calculated based on preoperative serological examinations. The primary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS), which were assessed by Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression. The prognostic performances of PALBI and other models were estimated by using the concordance index (C-index).

Results

During a median follow-up time of 28 months, 31.6% (147/465) of patients died and 33.5% (156/465) experienced recurrence. Multivariate analyses revealed that both thrombocytosis and thrombocytopenia were independently associated with poor OS and RFS compared with normal platelet count (PLT) in HCC patients. Stratified analysis further revealed that PALBI was a significant predictor for HCC survival in patients excluding thrombocytopenia but not in patients with thrombocytopenia. In particular, in HCC patients excluding thrombocytopenia, the combination of tumor size with PALBI (C-index = 0.730, 95% CI: 0.674–0.786) may be superior to the classical Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) and Cancer of Liver Italian Program (CLIP) staging systems in predicting survival.

Conclusion

In conclusion, PALBI grade, in particular the combination with tumor size, is an effective model for discriminating survival in HCC patients excluding thrombocytopenia but not in thrombocytopenic HCC patients.

Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and albumin bilirubin grade in hepatocellular carcinoma: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a frequent cause of cancer related death globally. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and albumin bilirubin (ALBI) grade are emerging prognostic indicators in HCC.

AIM

To study published literature of NLR and ALBI over the last five years, and to validate NLR and ALBI locally in our centre as indicators of HCC survival.

METHODS

A systematic review of the published literature on PubMed of NLR and ALBI in HCC over the last five years. The search followed the guidelines of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Additionally, we also investigated HCC cases between December 2013 and December 2018 in our centre.

RESULTS

There were 54 studies describing the relation between HCC and NLR and 95 studies describing the relation between HCC and ALBI grade over the last five years. Our local cohort of patients showed NLR to have a significant negative relationship to survival (P = 0.011). There was also significant inverse relationship between the size of the largest HCC nodule and survival (P = 0.009). Median survival with alpha fetoprotein (AFP) < 10 KU/L was 20 mo and with AFP > 10 KU/L was 5 mo. We found that AFP was inversely related to survival, this relationship was not statically significant (P = 0.132). Mean survival for ALBI grade 1 was 37.7 mo, ALBI grade 2 was 13.4 months and ALBI grade 3 was 4.5 mo. ALBI grades performed better than Child Turcotte Pugh score in detecting death from HCC.

CONCLUSION

NLR and ALBI grade in HCC predict survival better than the conventional alpha fetoprotein. ALBI grade performs better than Child Turcotte Pugh score. These markers are done as part of routine clinical care and in cases of normal alpha fetoprotein, these markers could give a better understanding of the patient disease progression. NLR and ALBI grade could have a role in modified easier to learn staging and prognostic systems for HCC.

Prognostic role of preoperative albumin-bilirubin grade on patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after surgical resection: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Recent studies have reported albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade affected the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To more precisely evaluate the relationship among the ALBI grade and the prognosis of patients with HCC after liver resection. We systematically retrieved articles from PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and CNKI. The prognostic value of ALBI grade on overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) of patients with HCC after liver resection was evaluated by pooled hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI).Through multiple databases search, we enrolled 20 high-quality studies with 11365 patients, regarding the association between the ALBI grade and the prognosis of patients with HCC after liver resection. Our results showed that higher ALBI grade is associated with poored OS (HR, 1.64; 95% CI: 1.51-1.78; P < 0.001; I = 24.9%) and RFS (HR, 1.42; 95% CI: 1.26-1.59; P < 0.001; I = 0). Moreover, subgroup analysis showed the significant correlation between ALBI grade and poor long-term survival was not altered in different geographical areas, sample sizes, follow-up duration, and quality scores. The ALBI grade may be as effective predictive biomarkers for prognosis in patients with HCC after liver resection.

ALBI versus child-pugh in predicting outcome of patients with HCC: A systematic review

INTRODUCTION

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive tumor type which results in poor prognosis. ALBI and Child-Pugh score have been widely applied for predicting prognosis in patients with liver diseases. We conducted a systematic review to compare the prognostic ability of ALBI versus Child-Pugh in HCC patients.

AREAS COVERED

PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library were explored. The data were extracted from every study. Studies investigating HCC patients and comparing the predicting ability between ALBI and Child-Pugh were analyzed.

EXPERT OPINION

This systematic review revealed that ALBI showed better discriminative ability than Child-Pugh for predicting the prognosis in HCC patients. However, the predictive abilities of two scores should be improved. Except for the most common used serum biomarker AFP for diagnosis and surveillance of HCC, recent studies have also explored all aspects of HCC through genome-wide sequencing, exome sequencing, RNA sequencing and genome-wide methylation analysis which provide essential clues for genotyping of HCC. Further studies should explore biomarkers by advanced techniques to validate new prognostic tools for early diagnosis and prognosis of HCC. Moreover, multicenter prospective studies should be carried out to compare the prognostic values of predictive indicators in HCC population in the future.

Ability of the post-operative ALBI grade to predict the outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma after curative surgery

The albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade has been validated as a significant predictor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there is little information about the impact of postoperative ALBI grade in patients with HCC who are undergoing liver resection. We enrolled 525 HCC patients who received primary resection from April 2001 to March 2017. The impact of the pre- and post-operative ALBI grades on overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were analyzed by multivariate analysis. During the follow-up period (mean, 65 months), 253 (48.1%) patients experienced recurrence, and 85 (16.2%) patients died. Multivariate analysis revealed that diabetes mellitus (DM) (p = 0.011), alpha-fetoprotein levels (AFP) (p < 0.001), low platelet count (p = 0.008), liver cirrhosis (p < 0.001), and the first year of ALBI grade after resection (p < 0.001) were independent predictors for RFS. Additionally, old age (p = 0.006), DM (p = 0.002), AFP (p = 0.027), and ALBI grade at the first year after resection (p < 0.001) were independent risk factors for poor liver-related survival. Patients with post-operative ALBI grades II/III had older age (p = 0.019), hypoalbuminemia (p = 0.038), DM (p = 0.043), and high stages of pTNM (p = 0.021). The post-operative ALBI grade is better for predicting the outcomes in HCC patients after curative hepatectomy than the pre-operative ALBI grade.

Albumin-Bilirubin Score Differentiates Liver Fibrosis Stage and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Incidence in Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection: A Retrospective Cohort Study

The albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score was originally established to stratify prognosis in patients with cirrhosis. The diagnostic accuracy of ALBI score in liver fibrosis staging in patients with chronic hepatitis B remains to be investigated. The present retrospective study, therefore, aimed to evaluate the ability of this score to stage liver fibrosis in these patients. Briefly, consecutive patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection who underwent liver biopsy examinations in Kagawa University Hospital were enrolled. Liver fibrosis stage was assessed using a modified Meta-Analysis of Histological Data in Viral Hepatitis score. Albumin-bilirubin scores were calculated according to the following equation: (log₁₀ total bilirubin [T-Bil] × 0.66) + (albumin [Alb] × -0.085). A total of 91 patients were enrolled in this study. Albumin-bilirubin score was able to differentiate stage 4 from stage 3 fibrosis (P < 0.05). When an ALBI score of -2.190 was adopted as the cutoff value for differentiating stage 4 from stages 1-3, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive likelihood ratio were 85.7%, 74.0%, and 3.300, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that baseline ALBI scores < -2.190 correlated with better hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-free survival (P < 0.05). In conclusion, ALBI score can be used for liver fibrosis staging in Japanese chronic hepatitis B patients and can help distinguish cirrhotic from non-cirrhotic status. Furthermore, ALBI score was useful as a prognosis biomarker in our patients, with smaller ALBI scores predicting better HCC-free survival. Because calculating ALBI score is easy using serum T-Bil and Alb alone, ALBI score will help clinicians with decision-making in management of HBV-infected patients.

The Pre- and Postoperative FIB-4 Indexes Are Good Predictors to the Outcomes of HBV-Related HCC Patients after Resection

Background and Aim

Liver fibrosis is associated with the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after resection. The fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index is an accurate and noninvasive marker to determine the degree of liver fibrosis. Here, we evaluated the effect of pre- and postoperative FIB-4 index in predicting the outcomes after resection of HCC in patients who have chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection.

Methods

A total of 534 CHB patients with HCC who received curative hepatectomy between 2001 and 2016 at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan, were enrolled in this study. The impact of the FIB-4 index (preoperative and the 1^st year after operation) on overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) was evaluated.

Results

There was a significant association between the preoperative FIB-4 index and Metavir fibrosis stage (p < 0.01). The multivariate analysis showed that preoperative FIB‐4 > 2 is an independent risk factor for RFS and OS after HCC curative resection [hazard ratio (HR), 1.902; 95% CI, 1.491–2.460; p < 0.001, and HR, 2.207; 95% CI, 1.420–3.429; p < 0.001, respectively]. Notably, preoperative FIB-4 is also an independent risk factor for RFS (HR, 1.219; p = 0.035) in noncirrhotic patients. Furthermore, patients had deteriorated FIB-4 1 year after operation [definition: the value (the 1^st year FIB‐4 after operation minus preoperative FIB‐4) > 1] and had an adverse outcome in RFS and OS (p < 0.001, both).

Conclusion

The pre and postoperative FIB-4 indexes are useful clinical markers to predict the prognosis in HBV-HCC patients after curative hepatectomy.

Albumin-bilirubin and platelet-albumin-bilirubin grades for hepatitis B-associated hepatocellular carcinoma in Child-Pugh A patients treated with radical surgery: A retrospective observational study

Child-Pugh (CP) grade A patients with early stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are candidates for curative surgery, while some patients still have a poor outcome. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic values of 2 new evaluation models for liver function, named albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) and platelet-albumin-bilirubin (PALBI) grades, in CP grade A patients with HCC.In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed 134 cases of CP grade A patients with hepatitis B-associated HCC who underwent radical surgery. ALBI and PALBI grades were calculated based on preoperative serologic examinations. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were estimated by Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox regression. The prognostic performances of the models were estimated by using the concordance index (C-index).During a median follow-up time of 27 months, 27.6% (37/134) of patients died and 26.1% (35/134) experienced recurrence. Kaplan-Meier analyses showed that ALBI and PALBI grades were significantly associated with OS and RFS. Multivariate analyses further revealed that both ALBI and PALBI grades were independent predictors for survival. Furthermore, the prognostic values of the combination of tumor size with ALBI (C-index = 0.754, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.675-0.849) or with PALBI (C-index = 0.762, 95% CI: 0.664-0.844) may be comparable with both Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer and Cancer of Liver Italian Program staging systems.The ALBI and PALBI grades, in particular the combination with tumor size, are effective models for discriminating survival in CP grade A patients with HCC.

Prognostic value of pretreatment albumin to bilirubin ratio in patients with hepatocellular cancer: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Hepatic function is closely associated with prognosis in patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC). In this study, a meta-analysis of the published studies was performed to assess the prognostic value of ALBI grade in HCC patients.

METHODS

Databases, including PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were retrieved up to August 2018. The primary outcome was OS and secondary outcome was DFS, the prognostic impact of which was assessed by using hazard ratio (HRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The enrolled studies were analyzed by using STATA version 12.0 software.

RESULTS

A total of 22,911 patients with HCC in 32 studies were included. Our results demonstrated that high pretreatment ALBI is associated with poor OS (HR = 1.719, 95%CI: 1.666-1.771, P = .000, univariate results; HR = 1.602, 95%CI: 1.470-1.735, P = .000, multivariate results) and poor DFS (HR = 1.411, 95%CI: 1.262-1.561, P = .000, univariate results; HR = 1.264, 95%CI: 1.042-1.485, P = .000, multivariate results). Meanwhile, when the analysis was stratified into subgroups, such as treatment methods, sample size, geographic area, and ALBI grade, the significant correlation in ALBI and poor long-term survival was not altered.

CONCLUSION

High pretreatment ALBI is closely associated with poor prognosis in HCC, and High ALBI should be treated as an ideal predictor during hepatocellular therapy.