The impact of tumor burden score on prognosis in patients after radical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma: a single-center retrospective study

Front Oncol. 2024 Nov 1:14:1359017. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1359017. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Purpose: This study examines the relationship between tumor burden score (TBS) and survival and recurrence following radical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma through a cohort study conducted in the Guangxi population of China.

Methods: This cohort study eventually recruited 576 HCC patients undergoing radical resection of HCC in the People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region during 2013-2022. After determining the best threshold TBS, all cases were grouped to evaluate the relationship between TBS versus overall survival (OS) and cumulative recurrence. Using X-Tile software, the best threshold TBS to judge patient prognostic outcome following radical resection of HCC was 10.77.

Results: Kaplan-Meier curve analysis revealed that patients with high TBS showed considerably decreased OS relative to the control group, accompanied by an increased recurrence rate. According to multivariate Cox proportional regression, the patients with high TBS were associated with poorer OS (HR = 2.56, 95% CI 1.64-3.99, P < 0.001) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 1.55, 95% CI 1.02-2.35, P < 0.001).

Conclusion: In patients undergoing radical resection for HCC, higher TBS was significantly related to shorter OS and RFS.

Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma; radical resection; recurrence; survival; tumor burden.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by the Major Project of Science and Technology of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (grant number: Guike-AA22096018), the Specific Research Project of Guangxi for Research Bases and Talents (grant number: Guike-AD21220042), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 82160589), the Nanning Qingxiu District Science and Technology Bureau key research and development plan (grant number 2020035) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 82260558).