Platelet-albumin-bilirubin grade: Risk stratification of liver failure, prognosis after resection for hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The liver function reserve in Child-Pugh (C-P) grade A hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients varies widely, and the value of platelet-albumin-bilirubin (PALBI) grade in predicting posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) grade B/C and overall survival (OS) remains unknown.

METHODS

From Dec 2004 to Dec 2013, 2038 C-P grade A HCC patients after resection were enrolled. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to clarify the risk factors for PHLF grade B/C and OS.

RESULTS

The PALBI grade had higher area under the curve values than albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) and C-P grade in predicting PHLF grade B/C (0.693, 0.683, 0.529 in the entire cohort; 0.677, 0.646, 0.516 in patients who underwent major resection). PALBI grade differentiated C-P grade A patients into three groups with distinct prognoses (P < 0.001), whereas ALBI grade differentiated C-P grade A patients into two groups (P < 0.001). Furthermore, PALBI grade identified three groups with clearly different prognoses in ALBI grade 1 patients (P = 0.032). Multivariate analyses showed that PALBI grade was one of the independent and significant prognostic factors of PHLF grade B/C and OS.

CONCLUSIONS

PALBI grade offers a simple, objective and discriminatory method for risk stratification of PHLF grade B/C and OS in C-P grade A HCC patients following resection.

ALBI and PALBI Grades Are Associated with the Outcome of Patients with Stable Decompensated Cirrhosis

INTRODUCTION AND AIM

Studies carried out mainly in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), have shown the prognostic significance of albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade. Recently, another predictive score incorporating platelet count into ALBI, PALBI grade, was introduced in patients with HCC.

AIM

We evaluated the ability of ALBI and PALBI grades in predicting the outcome (mortality / liver transplantation) of patients with stable decompensated cirrhosis with various etiology of liver diseases.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We prospectively studied 325 patients with stable decompensated cirrhosis awaiting liver transplantation. Their clinical and laboratory characteristics were recorded including albumin, bilirubin levels, platelets. We estimated ALBI and PALBI grades for every patient. Conventional prognostic scores were also evaluated; Child-Pugh (CTP), Model for End stage Liver Disease (MELD). We followed them up and recorded their outcome.

RESULTS

Beyond MELD and CTP, ALBI and PALBI grades proved significant factors associated with the outcome (HR: 2.13, 95%CI [1.59, 2.85], p < 0.001 and HR: 2.06, 95%CI [1.47, 2.9], p < 0.001, respectively), and their predictive capability was established (ROC analysis; AUC: 0.695, 95% CI [0.634, 0.755] and AUC: 0.683, 95% CI [0.621,0.744], respectively). ALBI and PALBI performed better than CTP score (p = 0.0044 and p = 0.014, respectively). Categorization of our patients into three ALBI groups detected statistically different survival times. Accordingly, PALBI grade 3 compared to those with PALBI grade 1 and 2 patients, had worse outcome and significantly higher frequency of cirrhosis-related complications Conclusions. ALBI and PALBI grades were validated and can be used to predict the outcome in patients with stable decompensated cirrhosis.

ALBI and PALBI grade predict survival for HCC across treatment modalities and BCLC stages in the MELD Era

BACKGROUND AND AIM

The severity of liver dysfunction in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is often estimated with Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) classification or model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score. We aim to investigate the performance of albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) and platelet-albumin-bilirubin (PALBI) grade, which are recently reported to be simple and objective measurements for liver reserve in HCC.

METHODS

Between 2002 and 2014, consecutive 3182 HCC patients were enrolled to follow up their survival. The area under receiver-operator-characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated to test the discriminatory powers over 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival.

RESULTS

Significant survival differences were found across all ALBI and PALBI grades (both P < 0.001). The majority (73%) of patients were CTP class A. Within CTP class A, ALBI revealed two prognostic groups while PALBI segregated three prognostic groups. The PABLI grade also identified three different survival groups for patients undergoing resection, ablation, and chemoembolization. Both ALBI and PALBI grade were capable of discerning survival among different HCC stages. The PALBI grade had significantly higher AUC compared with CTP classification and ALBI grade at 1, 3, and 5 years. For CTP class A patients, the PALBI grade was also associated with significantly higher AUC compared with ALBI grade at 1-year and 3-year intervals. The MELD score has the lowest AUC compared with other systems.

CONCLUSIONS

Both ALBI and PALBI grade are adequate models to assess liver dysfunction in HCC. The PALBI grade is consistently better in all patients, in patients with minimally decreased liver function, and in patients receiving different aggressive therapies.