Low Frequency of Peripheral Lymphocyte in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients Predicts Poor Progression to Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most prevalent cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The poor prognosis of HCC is mainly because of its discovery at advanced stages. Because chronic hepatitis B (CHB) accounts for 50-80% HCC occurrence worldwide, and immunity is regarded as an emerging hallmark of cancer, we investigated the predictive role of peripheral immune cells in HCC incidence in CHB patients.

METHODS

This investigation collected and analyzed data from 89 CHB patients, 94 primary HCC patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV), 81 primary HCC patients without HBV, 69 normal healthy patients, and 257 CHB patients with at least 3-year regular followup.

RESULTS

The results demonstrated that CHB and primary HCC patients had different concentrations of lymphocytes, neutrophils, and monocytes in their peripheral circulation. Further study showed that the peripheral lymphocyte concentration was an independent prognostic factor for HCC incidence in CHB patients during the 3 years of followup. Finally, a predictive HCC incidence model with an AUROC (area under the receiver operating characteristic) of 0.832 was constructed based on the peripheral lymphocyte concentration, serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) concentration, and cirrhosis status of CHB patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The peripheral lymphocyte concentration was an independent prognostic factor for HCC incidence in CHB patients, and a more accurate predictive model based on peripheral lymphocytes, serum AFP, and cirrhosis status was constructed.