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Assessment of the Outcomes of Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma After Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Microwave Ablation Based on Albumin–Bilirubin Grade

  • Clinical Investigation
  • Interventional Oncology
  • Published:
CardioVascular and Interventional Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To determine whether albumin–bilirubin (ALBI) grade could be used to predict the outcomes of patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) who underwent ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA).

Materials and Methods

This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board, and the requirement for informed consent was waived. We studied 52 treatment-naïve patients with 74 ICC lesions according to the Milan criteria who subsequently underwent MWA from April 2011 to March 2018. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were compared in groups classified by Child–Pugh score and ALBI grade, which were statistically analyzed with the log-rank test. Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were used to determine the prognostic factors for survival in patients with ICC.

Results

The median follow-up time was 21.2 months (3.2–78.7 months). Seventeen patients died during this period. After MWA, the cumulative 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were 87.4%, 51.4%, and 35.2%, respectively, and the cumulative 1-, 3-, and 5-year RFS rates were 68.9%, 56.9%, and 56.9%, respectively. The major complication rate was 3.8% (2/52). Stratified according to ALBI grade, the cumulative 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were 95.5%, 72.4%, and 72.4% for patients with ALBI grade 1 and 62.5%, 40.6%, and 36.3% for patients with ALBI grade 2, respectively, showing a significant difference (P = 0.006). Multivariate analysis results showed that older age (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.67, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11–2.82; P = 0.002), tumor size ≥ 3 cm in diameter (HR: 11.33, CI: 2.24–34.52; P = 0.021) and ALBI grade (HR: 8.23, CI: 1.58–58.00; P = 0.004) may be predictors of poor OS.

Conclusion

ALBI grade was validated as a significant biomarker for predicting survival in ICC patients within the Milan criteria who underwent MWA.

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Funding

This work was supported by Grants 2017YFC0112000 and 2018ZX10723-204 from the National Key R&D Program of Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Grants 81627803, 81622024, 81971625, and 91859201 from the National Scientific Foundation Committee of China, Grant JQ18021 from the National Scientific Foundation Committee of Beijing, and Fostering Funds of Chinese PLA General Hospital for National Distinguished Young Scholar Science Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Hongcai Yang & Ping Liang

  2. Department of Interventional Ultrasound, Chinese PLA General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing, 100853, China

    Hongcai Yang, Zhigang Cheng, Zhiyu Han, Fangyi Liu, Xiaoling Yu, Jie Yu & Ping Liang

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  1. Hongcai Yang
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  2. Zhigang Cheng
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Correspondence to Jie Yu or Ping Liang.

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Yang, H., Cheng, Z., Han, Z. et al. Assessment of the Outcomes of Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma After Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Microwave Ablation Based on Albumin–Bilirubin Grade. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol 44, 261–270 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-020-02637-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-020-02637-9

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