ABSTRACT
Objective:To establish and validate a preoperative differentiateon model of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and combined hepatocellular carcinoma (CHC) based on the inflammatory markers and conventional clinical indicators.Methods:The clinical data of 116 patients with ICC or CHC admitted to Henan Provincial People's Hospital from January 2018 to March 2023 were retrospectively analyzed, including 74 males and 42 females, aged (58.5±9.4) years old. The data of 83 patients were used to establish the differentiation model as the training group, including 50 cases of ICC and 33 cases of CHC. The data of 33 patients were used to validate the model as the validation group, including 20 cases of ICC and 13 cases of CHC. The clinical data including the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic immune inflammation index (SII), prognostic inflammatory index (PII), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) were collected and analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the best cut-off values of PLR, SII, PII, PNI, NLR and LMR. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to determine the differential factors between ICC and CHC. The R software was used to draw the nomogram, calculate the area under the curve (AUC) to evaluate the model accuracy, and draw the calibration chart and the decision curve to evaluate the predictive efficacy of the model.Results:Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that liver cirrhosis, history of hepatitis, alpha fetoprotein, carbohydrate antigen 199, gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), PLR, PNI and inflammation score (IS) could be used to differentiate ICC from CHC (all P<0.05). The indicators identified in univariate analysis were included in multivariate logistic regression analysis. The results showed that absence of liver cirrhosis, GGT>60 U/L, PNI>49.53, and IS<2 indicated the pathology of ICC (all P<0.05). Based on the above four factors, a nomogram model was established to differentiate the ICC and CHC. The AUC of ROC curve of the nomogram model in the training and validation groups were 0.851 (95% CI: 0.769-0.933) and 0.771 (95% CI: 0.594-0.949), respectively. The sensitivities were 0.760 and 0.750, and the specificities were 0.818 and 0.769, respectively. The calibration chart showed that the predicted curve fitted well to the reference line. The decision curve showed that the model has a clear positive net benefit. Conclusion:The nomogram model based on inflammatory markers showed a good differentiation performance of ICC and CHC, which could benefits the individualized treatment.