Prognostic value of preoperative red blood cell distribution width for hepatocellular carcinoma / 中华消化外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the prognostic value of preoperative red blood cell distribution width (RDW) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods:The retrospective cohort study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 1 025 HCC patients who were admitted to three medical centers (586 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 248 in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University and 191 in the Qinghai University Affiliated Hospital) between April 2002 and August 2017 were collected. There were 809 males and 216 females, aged (54±11)years, with a range from 16 to 83 years. The average coefficient of variation of RDW (RDW-CV) of 1 025 patients was 14.3%. Of 1 025 patients, 347 cases had high RDW of RDW-CV >14.3%, and 678 had low RDW of RDW-CV ≤14.3%. Observation indicators: (1) clinico-pathological data of HCC patients; (2) influencing factors for prognosis of HCC patients; (3) follow-up and survival. (4) stratified analysis of independent influencing factors. Follow-up was performed by outpatient examination, telephone interview or internet interview to detect postoperative survival of patients up to October 2017. Measurment data with normal distribution were represented as Mean±SD, and measurment data with skewed distribution were described as M (range). Count data were described as absolute numbers, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test. The Graphpad Prism 7.0 was used to draw survival curves, and Log-rank test was used for survival analysis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using the COX proportional hazard model. Results:(1) Clinicopathological data of HCC patients: cases with age ≤70 years or >70 years, cases without cirhhosis or with cirhhosis , cases of Child-Pugh grade A or Child-Pugh grade B or C, cases with the level of alpha fetoprotein (AFP) ≤200 μg/L or >200 μg/L, cases with single tumor or multiple tumors were 313, 34, 152, 186, 161, 53, 158, 143, 186, 109 for high RDW patients, versus 641, 37, 359, 310, 415, 48, 367, 227, 547, 131 for low RDW patients, respectively, showing significant differences in above indicators between the two groups ( χ2=6.709, 6.787, 23.906, 7.114, 34.375, P<0.05). (2) Influencing factors for prognosis of HCC patients: results of univariate analysis showed that age, Child-Pugh grade, AFP, RDW-CV, tumor diameter, the number of tumors were related factors for prognosis of patients ( hazard ratio=1.388, 1.432, 1.534, 1.455, 2.813, 1.505, 95% confidence interval as 1.004-1.920, 1.086-1.887, 1.263-1.864, 1.211-1.748, 2.293-3.450, 1.173-1.932, P<0.05 ). Results of multivariate analysis showed that age, RDW-CV, tumor diameter and the number of tumors were independent factors for prognosis of patients ( hazard ratio=1.020, 1.340, 2.427, 1.438, 95% confidence interval as 1.007-1.032, 1.027-1.749, 1.801-3.272, 1.057-1.956, P<0.05). (3) Follow-up and survival: 1 025 patients were followed up for 1-124 months, with a median follow-up time of 25 months. The median survival time was 23 months for high RDW patients, versus 44 months for low RDW patients, showing a significant difference in the overall survival between the two groups ( χ2=11.640, P<0.05). (4) Stratified analysis of independent influencing factors: the results of stratified analysis of 3 independent influencing factors including age, tumor diameter and the number of tumors showed that in the 954 patients with age ≤70 years, the median survival time was 25 months for high RDW patients, versus 48 months for low RDW patients, showing a significant difference in the overall survival between the two groups ( χ2=14.030, P<0.05). In the 71 patients with age >70 years, the median survival time was 11 months for high RDW patients, versus 29 months for low RDW patients, showing no significant difference in the overall survival between the two groups ( χ2=0.933, P>0.05). In the 459 patients with tumor diameter ≤5 cm, the median survival time was 44 months for high RDW patients, versus 76 months for low RDW patients, showing a significant difference in the overall survival between the two groups ( χ2=8.660, P<0.05). In the 487 patients with tumor diameter >5 cm, the median survival time was 14 months for high RDW patients, versus 18 months for low RDW patients, showing no significant difference in the overall survival between the two groups ( χ2=2.950, P>0.05). In the 733 patients with single tumor, the median survival time was 20 months for high RDW patients, versus 48 months for low RDW patients, showing a significant difference in the overall survival between the two groups ( χ2=13.530, P<0.05). In the 240 patients with multiple tumors, the median survival time was 15 months for high RDW patients, versus 20 months for low RDW patients, showing a significant difference in the overall survival between the two groups ( χ2=6.820, P<0.05). Conclusions:Preoperative RDW can be used as a predictive index for prognosis of HCC patients, and patients with high RDW have poorer prognosis. RDW have better predictive value in patients with age ≤70 years or tumor diameter ≤5 cm.