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Prognostic role of serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels in patients with resectable hepatocellular carcinoma

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

Serum levels of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) were shown to be associated with poorer prognosis in several cancers, but the prognostic role of CA 19-9 levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma was unclear. A retrospective cohort of 97 patients with resectable hepatocellular carcinoma was performed to assess the prognostic role of CA 19-9 levels on overall survival in hepatocellular carcinoma. Both Kaplan-Meier product-limit method and multivariate analysis were performed to determine the prognostic role of CA 19-9 levels. The results indicated that among those 97 patients, 24 (24.7 %) had elevated preoperative CA 19-9 levels (≥37 U/mL). Elevated serum CA 19-9 levels did not correlate with patient age, gender, tumor size, tumor stage, diabetes, and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Kaplan-Meier product-limit method showed that patients with elevated CA 19-9 levels had poorer survival than those with normal CA 19-9 levels (log-rank test P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that elevated CA 19-9 level was a significantly independent predictor of poorer overall survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.56; 95 % confidence interval [95 % CI] 1.41–4.64, P = 0.002). In addition, tumor stages and multiple tumors were also independent predictors of poorer overall survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (P < 0.01). In conclusion, serum CA 19-9 levels have an independent prognostic role in patients with resectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Elevated CA 19-9 level is significantly associated with poorer overall survival in hepatocellular carcinoma.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81200328) and Shanghai Natural Science Foundation (12ZR1424100).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery, Shanghai First People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, 200080, Shanghai, China

    Jinyan Zhang, Fan Zhang, Junming Xu, Guoqing Chen, Xiaoliang Wang, Li Huang & Zhihai Peng

  2. Clinical Laboratory, Baoshan Branch of Shanghai First People’s Hospital, Shanghai, China

    Tao Huang

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  1. Jinyan Zhang
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  2. Tao Huang
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  3. Fan Zhang
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Correspondence to Jinyan Zhang.

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Zhang, J., Huang, T., Zhang, F. et al. Prognostic role of serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels in patients with resectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Tumor Biol. 36, 2257–2261 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-014-2435-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-014-2435-6

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