Combined Preoperative ALBI and FIB-4 Is Associated with Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Curative Hepatectomy

Background and Purpose

Chronic inflammatory response is a risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis and recurrence. This study aimed to develop a nomogram incorporating the combined albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) scores and the peritumoral inflammation score (PIS) to predict postoperative recurrence-free survival (RFS) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods

The prognostic roles of preoperative ALBI and FIB-4 scores for HCC recurrence were investigated, and a nomogram was developed. The predictive ability of the nomogram was compared with the American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging systems for HCC. Necroinflammatory activity in the peritumoral liver tissues was evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining.

Results

Combined ALBI and FIB-4 was associated with PIS in the training and validation cohorts (r?=?0.342 and 0.473, both P?

Conclusions

The proposed nomogram incorporating PIS and combined ALBI and FIB-4 was associated with recurrence for HCC following curative hepatectomy.