Health-related quality of life of chronic liver disease patients with and without hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Impaired health-related quality of life has been reported in patients with cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis. However, only limited data are available concerning the influence of hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: Health-related quality of life was assessed in 97 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who had been treated successfully with percutaneous ablation therapy, and 97 patients with chronic liver disease without hepatocellular carcinoma matched for age and sex, using the Japanese version of Short-Form 36. Raw scores were transformed using norm-based scoring. The relations with objective variables including status of hepatocellular carcinoma and laboratory data were analyzed. RESULTS: Health-related quality of life was lower in both groups than in the general population. Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and patients in the control group showed similar scores. By multivariate analysis, liver function, especially serum albumin, strongly predicted health-related quality of life, but status of hepatocellular carcinoma did not. CONCLUSIONS: Impaired health-related quality of life was not associated with the presence of hepatocellular carcinoma but dependent on the level of liver function, indicating the importance of preserving liver function in following up patients. Serum albumin level was a useful objective variable to assess health-related quality of life of patients with chronic liver disease.