Impact of the Prognostic Nutritional Index on the Survival of Japanese Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Sorafenib: A Multicenter Retrospective Study

Prognostic Nutritional Index after Introduction of Atezolizumab with Bevacizumab Predicts Prognosis in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Multicenter Study

INTRODUCTION

Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (Atez/Bev) is the preferred treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, biomarkers of therapeutic efficacy have remained unclear. We took a retrospective approach to explore the role of prognostic nutritional index (PNI) for predicting the outcomes of Atez/Bev treatment.

METHODS

One hundred 25 HCC patients were enlisted; these patients received Atez/Bev treatment and underwent dynamic computerized tomography/magnetic resonance imaging to determine the treatment response on at least one occasion between October 2020 and January 2023, and their PNI before treatment and at the beginning of the second cycle (PNI-2c) was evaluated.

RESULTS

During the initial evaluation, 2 (2%), 28 (22%), 70 (56%), and 25 (20%) patients exhibited a complete response, partial response, stable disease, and progressive disease (PD), respectively. Patients with non-PD tended to have higher PNI at baseline and PNI-2c than those with PD (p = 0.245 and 0.122, respectively), with optimal baseline PNI and PNI-2c cut-off values of 42.6 and 40.4, respectively. PNI at baseline could not be used to predict overall survival (OS) or progression-free survival (PFS). However, PNI-2c predicted OS and PFS (PNI-2c ≥ 40.4 vs. < 40.4: 25.3 vs. 16.2 months, p = 0.008 for OS; 12.7 vs. 8.4 months, p = 0.036 for PFS). A multivariate analysis showed a significant association between PNI-2c and OS.

CONCLUSIONS

PNI-2c is a predictor of prognosis in HCC patients treated with Atez/Bev therapy.

Prognostic significance of psoas muscle index in male hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors and tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Currently, the relationship between nutritional indices and the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the prognostic value of psoas muscle index (PMI), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), body mass index (BMI), and geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) in HCC patients treated with ICIs combined with TKIs. A total of 124 male patients with HCC were included in this study. PNI, PMI, BMI, and GNRI were calculated at the beginning of treatment. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the effect of various variables. In the univariate analysis, PMI, PNI, GNRI, and ALB were found to impact the outcomes of the patients at different follow-up times. However, the predictive value of these nutritional indices was eliminated when established risk factors were considered. In the multivariate analysis that only included nutrition-related indicators, PMI emerged as an independent prognostic factor for 1-year treatment outcomes. The group with low PMI (≤5.5409 cm2/m2) was found to have a higher risk of death at one year and at the end of the follow-up period.

Advanced Hepatocellular Cancer Treated with Sorafenib and Novel Inflammatory Markers

OBJECTIVE

Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is an aggressive tumor with an increasing incidence in recent years. Life expectancy is limited, especially due to limited effective treatments and tumor biology. In this study, we aimed to examine the effect of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), prognostic nutritional index (PNI) parameters of treatment efficacy of patients using sorafenib in primary systemic therapy, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this study, we retrospectively analyzed 78 patients who used sorafenib as a first-line systemic treatment. NLR, PLR, and PNI values were calculated with the existing formulas. Cut-off values for these markers were determined by performing ROC curve analysis. These values were determined respectively as 2.88, 111.05, and 38.25. Patients were divided into two groups according to this threshold value. OS and PFS values were calculated using a Cox proportional risk model. The effects of markers on OS and PFS were examined based on the cut-off value.

RESULTS

The mean PFS was 7.1 (range 1-46) months, and the mean OS was 14.1 (range 1.5-94) months. The pre-treatment decreased NLR (< 2.88) value was prognostic for higher PFS and OS rates. These values were determined respectively as 9.23 ± 1.79 and 3.45 ± 0.32 months for PFS and 21.17 ± 4.53 and 5.32 ± 0.53 months for OS. Pre-treatment decreased PLR (< 111.05) was found to be a positively significant prognostic value for both survival. These values were determined respectively as 7.37 ± 1.43 months and 3.16 ± 0.47 months for PFS and 21.12 ± 5.52 months and 6.16 ± 0.87 months for OS. And also, low PNI (< 38.25) value was prognostic for lower PFS and rates. These values were determined respectively as 7.47 ± 0.59 months and 3.25 ± 0.21 months for PFS and 16.36 ± 4.37 months and 5.15 ± 0.42 for OS. All three parameters were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05) for both OS and PFS as independent prognostic markers.

CONCLUSION

Today, as the standard first-line treatment of HCC has shifted to combinations with immunotherapy (IO), IO transportation is not possible in most countries of the world. However, there are also patients who achieve great survival with only sorafenib. The important point is to identify the biomarkers that predict which patient will benefit better from which treatment. With the markers in our study and a scoring system that can be obtained with these markers, it can be evaluated which patient will be given IO combination and which patient will be given only TKI treatment. We think that such a scoring system can be used to identify suitable patients, especially in countries where, for financial reasons, not every patient can access Immunotherapy. The advantage of these tests is that they are inexpensive, easily calculable and standardized.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Number and date of registration: 2021/2088, 01-06-2021, retrospectively registered.

Impact of prognostic nutritional index on the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after a curative resection

Backgrounds/Aims

The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the association between prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after a curative resection.

Methods

Between 2007 to 2019, 130 patients who underwent curative hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma were enrolled. PNI was calculated. Its cutoff value was identified through receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. According to PNI, patients were divided into two groups. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify independent risk factors for recurrence.

Results

The cutoff value of PNI was 52. In univariate analysis, alcoholic liver cirrhosis (p = 0.041), protein induced by vitamin K antagonist- II &ge; 200 (p = 0.012), indocyanine green retention test (ICG R15) >10% (p = 0.001), estimated blood loss &ge; 800 mL (p = 0.037), tumor size (p = 0.001), microvascular invasion (p = 0.023), T-stage (p = 0.001), and PNI < 52 (p = 0.001) were significant factors affecting the recurrence. In multivariate analysis, alcoholic liver cirrhosis (p = 0.046), ICG R15 >10% (p = 0.025), T-stage (p = 0.003), and PNI < 52 (p = 0.046) were independent prognostic factors for disease-free survival.

Conclusions

PNI, a nutritional and immunologic factor, is an independent prognostic factor that can predict the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients undergoing a curative resection.

Role of the prognostic nutritional index in predicting survival in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with regorafenib

AIM

A link has been established between malnutrition, immunological status, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) has been recognized as a prognostic indicator in early-stage HCC and in patients treated with first-line therapy. However, to date, the role of the PNI in HCC patients treated with regorafenib has not been reported.

METHODS

We undertook a multicentric analysis on a cohort of 284 patients affected by advanced HCC treated with regorafenib. The PNI was calculated as follows: 10 × serum albumin concentration (g/dl) + 0.005 × peripheral lymphocyte count (number/mm³ ). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to investigate the association between PNI and survival outcomes.

RESULTS

A PNI cut-off value of 44.45 was calculated by a receiver operating characteristic analysis. The median overall survival was 12.8 and 7.8 months for patients with high (>44.45) and low (≤44.45) PNI, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.43-0.77; p = 0.0002). In the univariate and multivariate analyses, low PNI value and increased serum bilirubin level emerged as independent prognostic factors for overall survival. No differences were found between high and low PNI in terms of progression-free survival (p = 0.14).

CONCLUSION

If validated, the PNI could represent an easy-to-use prognostic tool able to guide the clinical decision-making process in HCC patients treated with regorafenib.

Lenvatinib for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Literature Review

Lenvatinib, which is an oral multikinase inhibitor, showed non-inferiority to the sorafenib in terms of overall survival (OS) and a higher objective response rate (ORR) and better progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A good liver function and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) intermediate stage were the key factors in achieving therapeutic efficacy. The management of adverse events plays an important role in continuing lenvatinib treatment. While sequential therapies contributed to prolonging overall survival, effective molecular targeted agents for the administration after lenvatinib have not been established. Repeated transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) was associated with a decline in the liver function and poor therapeutic response in BCLC intermediate patients. Recently, the Asia-Pacific Primary Liver Cancer Expert (APPLE) Consensus Statement proposed the criteria for TACE unsuitability. Upfront systemic therapy may be better for the BCLC intermediate stage HCC patients with a high tumor burden, while selective TACE will be recommended for obtaining a curative response in patients with a low tumor burden. This article reviews the therapeutic response, management of adverse events, post-progression treatment after Lenvatinib, and treatment strategy for BCLC intermediate stage HCC.

A change in the timing for starting systemic therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma: the comparison of sorafenib and lenvatinib as the first-line treatment

AIM

The aim of this retrospective multicenter study was to evaluate the differences in the timing for starting systemic therapies as the first-line treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS

A total of 375 patients with HCC treated with sorafenib from May 2009 to March 2018 and 56 patients treated with lenvatinib from March 2018 to November 2018 at our affiliated hospitals were included in this study.

RESULTS

The median ages of the sorafenib and lenvatinib groups were 71.0 (interquartile range [IQR]: 64.0-77.0) and 73.5 (IQR: 68.0 -80.0) years old, and 300 (80.0%) and 42 (75.0%) patients were men, respectively. The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage was early, intermediate and advanced in 39 patients (10.4%), 133 patients (35.5%) and 203 patients (54.1%) in the sorafenib group and 1 patient (1.8%), 17 patients (30.4%) and 38 patients (67.9%) in the lenvatinib group, respectively. In the analysis of intermediate HCC, patients who satisfied the criteria of TACE failure/refractoriness (P=0.017), those with ALBI grade 1 (P=0.040), and those with a serum AFP level < 200 ng/ml (P=0.027) were found more frequently in the lenvatinib group than in the sorafenib group, with statistical significance. The objective response rate (ORR) of lenvatinib was 34.8% in the overall patients and 46.7% in the intermediate-stage HCC patients, which was significantly higher than sorafenib (P=0.001, P=0.017).

CONCLUSIONS

The emergence of lenvatinib has encouraged physicians to start systemic chemotherapy earlier in intermediatestage HCC patients.

Liver Function Changes in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Lenvatinib: Predictive Factors of Progression to Child-Pugh Class B, the Formation of Ascites and the Candidates for the Post-Progression Treatment

The aim of this multicenter retrospective study was to assess the change in liver function in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated with lenvatinib. Among 139 consecutive patients receiving lenvatinib treatment between March 2018 and July 2019, 28 patients with Child-Pugh class B and one patient with inadequate patient information were excluded. Remaining 110 patients with Child-Pugh class A were analyzed. The median age of 110 patients was 73 years (IQR 66.7-80) and 88 patients (80.0%) were men. Child-Pugh score was 5 (CP5A) and 6 (CP6A) in 58 (52.7%) and 52 patients (47.3%), and ALBI grade was 1 and 2 in 38 (34.5%) and 72 patients (65.5%), respectively. The deterioration to Child-Pugh class B was found in 43 patients (39.1%) during the lenvatinib treatment. The favorable factors related to preserving liver function were significantly shown to be male, ALBI grade 1, CP5A and BCLC early or intermediate stage in the multivariate analysis. The formation of ascites was found in 32 patients (28.6%). The significant unfavorable factors associated with the formation of ascites were found to be low platelet count and CP6A. Among the 79 patients, there were 36 (45.6%) and 11 patients (13.9%) who fulfilled the criteria for candidate for the post-progression treatment and ramucirumab treatment, respectively. The predictive factors of the post-progression treatment were shown to be ALBI grade 1 and CP5A in multivariate analysis. In conclusion, male, ALBI grade 1, CP5A and BCLC early or intermediate stage were favorable factors related to sustaining liver function and the patients with ALBI grade 1 and CP5A were eligible for the post-progression treatment. Careful screening for ascites was needed in patients with low platelet count and CP6A.

Pretreatment prognostic nutritional index is a prognostic marker for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer patients treated with anlotinib

Background

Anlotinib is a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor that inhibits tumor angiogenesis which has shown activity in several malignancies and approved for the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in China. However, there are no markers can predict the clinical outcomes of anlotinib. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of anlotinib in extensive stage SCLC (ES-SCLC) patients who failed at least two regimens treatment and to explore potential factors related to its survival benefit.

Methods

Patients with ES-SCLC treated with anlotinib monotherapy were screened between March 2017 and May 2019, prognostic nutritional index (PNI) before treatment were collected. Progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated and compared using the Kaplan–Meier method and the log-rank test. The prognostic values of each variable were evaluated with univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression (PHR) analyses.

Results

A total of 41 patients with ES-SCLC were received anlotinib treatment, the median age was 57 (range, 33–76). Median OS was significantly longer in the PNI high arm compared with the low arm [8.4 months (95% CI, 5.1–9.6 months) vs. 4.7 months (95% CI, 2.1–6.3 months); hazard ratio (HR) 0.42 (95% CI, 0.21–0.85); P=0.01]. The median PFS of two arms were 4.1 months (95% CI, 2.1–8.2 months) and 2.6 months (95% CI, 0.7–3.9 months), respectively (HR =0.53, 95% CI, 0.27–1.02, P=0.05). Multivariate analysis confirmed that PNI (P<0.01) and LDH (P<0.01) were significant independent biomarkers for OS.

Conclusions

The present study demonstrated that pretreatment PNI can be used as a novel and convenient biomarker to predict the prognosis in ES-SCLC patients treated with anlotinib.

The role of PNI to predict survival in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with Sorafenib

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The present study aims to investigate the role of the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) on survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with sorafenib.

METHODS

This multicentric study included a training cohort of 194 HCC patients and three external validation cohorts of 129, 76 and 265 HCC patients treated with Sorafenib, respectively. The PNI was calculated as follows: 10 × serum albumin (g/dL) + 0.005 × total lymphocyte count (per mm3). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the association between the covariates and the overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

A PNI cut-off value of 31.3 was established using the ROC analysis. In the training cohort, the median OS was 14.8 months (95% CI 12-76.3) and 6.8 months (95% CI 2.7-24.6) for patients with a high (>31.3) and low (<31.3) PNI, respectively. At both the univariate and the multivariate analysis, low PNI value (p = 0.0004), a 1-unit increase of aspartate aminotransferase (p = 0.0001), and age > 70 years (p< 0.0038) were independent prognostic factors for OS. By performing the same multivariate analysis of the training cohort, the PNI <31.3 versus >31.3 was found to be an independent prognostic factor for predicting OS in all the three validation cohorts.

CONCLUSIONS

PNI represents a prognostic tool in advanced HCC treated with first-line Sorafenib. It is readily available and low-cost, and it could be implemented in clinical practice in patients with HCC.