Prognostic relationship between ratio of peritumoral hepatic stellate cells to γδ T cells and prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after curative resection

Abstract

Objective To study the association between ratio of peritumoral hepatic stellate cells to γδ T cells ratio (SGR) and prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative resection. Methods From January 2011 to December 2013, the clinical data of 320 patients with HCC who underwent curative resection at the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University were collected and analyzed retrospectively. Immunohistochemistry was used to calculate the SGR in adjacent cancer tissues. Survival was estimated by Kaplan-Meier method. Prognosis of HCC patients was analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results Multivariate analysis revealed multiple tumors (HR=1.895, 95%CI: 1.155-3.108), microvascular invasion (HR=1.665, 95%CI: 1.104-2.512), tumor size >5 cm (HR=2.400, 95%CI: 1.603-3.594) and peritumoral SGR>18 (HR=1.880, 95%CI: 1.257-2.810) were independent risk factors of the overall survival rate in HCC patients. Preoperative AFP>20 μg/L (HR=1.631, 95%CI: 1.151-2.311), microvascular invasion (HR=2.145, 95%CI: 1.536-2.994), tumor size >5 cm (HR=1.866, 95%CI: 1.342-2.592) and peritumoral SGR>18 (HR=1.517, 95%CI: 1.084-2.122) were independent risk factors of the tumor-free survival rate in HCC patients. Patients were then divided into the low SGR (ratio≤18, n=222) and high SGR groups (ratio>18, n=98) using SGR in adjacent cancer tissues. The overall survival and tumor-free survival rates of the low SGR group were significantly better than the high SGR group (P<0.05). Conclusion Peritumoral SGR was an independent prognostic factor of patients with HCC following radical resection. The prognosis of patients with low SGR was better. Key words: Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Hepatic stellate cells; γδT lymphocytes; Tumor microenvironment; Prognosis