Preoperative hemoglobin-to-red cell distribution width ratio as a novel prognostic parameter in hepatocellular carcinoma after curative resection.

Abstract

e15634 Background: Cumulative evidence has demonstrated that interaction between tumor and the inflammatory microenvironment plays a critical role in the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aims to investigate the prognostic value of hemoglobin to red cell distribution width (RDW) ratio (HRR), as a novel and simple biomarker reflecting both the host inflammatory response and nutrition status, in patients with HCC undergoing curative hepatectomy. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 373 HCC patients treated with hepatic resection between January 2004 and December 2012. Preoperative complete blood counts were used to calculate HRR. The best cut-off for survival analysis was determined by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were applied to assess HRR and other clinicopathological variables. Results: The optimal cutoff value of HRR was 1.06 with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.591 (95% CI, 0.540-0.642, p = 0.0072). A low preoperative HRR level ( < 1.06) was significantly correlated with hypoalbuminemia, female sex, the presence of portal hypertension and elevated level of total bilirubin. After a median follow-up of 48.5 months (range, 2-148.2 months), patients with a low HRR had significantly worse 5-year overall survival (OS) (69.2% vs 83.9%, p = 0.002). However, no significant difference was observed between low and high HRR groups with respect to recurrence free survival. The HRR (p = 0.009), histological differentiation (p = 0.003), Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage (p = 0.003), serum alkaline phosphatase level (p = 0.008) and serum alanine aminotransferase level (p = 0.041) were identified to be independent prognostic factors of OS by multivariate analysis. This cox model was validated by bootstrap resampling, confirming low HRR as an independent predictor of shorter OS after adjustment (p = 0.01). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates for the first time that preoperative HRR can serve as an independent prognostic maker in HCC patients after radical surgery. Incorporation of HRR into other indices may provide better prognostic stratification.