Abstract
Background Liver stiffness (LS) as measured by magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and the presence of intrahepatic nonhypervascular hypointense nodules (NHHNs) during the hepatobiliary phase of gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid–enhanced magnetic resonance imaging are non-invasive MR-based biomarkers of hepatocarcinogenesis. Methods We retrospectively evaluated the ability of these two MR-based biomarkers to stratify the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in patients with chronic liver disease. Between September 2013 and April 2020, 868 consecutive patients underwent MRE and gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid–enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, among whom 487 were enrolled in this study. Factors associated with hepatocarcinogenesis were analysed by a Cox proportional hazard model. Results Thirty-two patients developed hypervascular HCC. According to the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analysis, an LS value of 3.94 kPa was selected as the optimal cut-off value for predicting HCC development. Multivariate analyses identified high LS (≥3.94 kPa) and the presence of NHHN as independent predictive factors for HCC development. Patients were classified as follows: high LS/NHHN+ (Group 1), high LS/NHHN− (Group 2), low LS/NHHN+ (Group 3) and low LS/NHHN− (Group 4). The 5-year incidence rates of HCC in Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 49.0%, 16.3%, 10.0% and 2.5% respectively. The HCC development rate was highest in Group 1 and lowest in Group 4 (P < 0.01). Conclusion MRE-based LS measurements and the presence of NHHN are useful biomarkers to stratify the risk of HCC development among chronic liver disease patients. Combining these biomarkers can provide a detailed classification of the risk of HCC development.
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