ABO Blood Group Differentials on Survival in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Treated with Chemoembolization

Abstract

Background:The association between ABO blood group and the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. We investigated the impact of ABO blood groups as a prognostic factor in HCC patients treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Materials and methods: We revisited records of all HCC patients who underwent TACE between January 2007 and December 2019 at a tertiary care hospital. The inclusion criteria were HCC patients, Child-Pugh score A5-B7, and treated with TACE monotherapy. The baseline characteristics of each patient were compared against their blood group and the survival analysis was carried out using Cox's regression. With Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons, P-values <.0125 were considered statistically significant. Results: Of 211 eligible patients, the frequencies of blood groups O, A, B, and AB were 89, 54, 56, and 12, respectively. Their respective months of median survival were 41, 20, 21, and 42. After adjustments in the six-and-twelve criteria and Child-Pugh scores, and using blood group O as the referent group, the coefficients (SE) of groups A, B, and AB were 0.69 (0.24), 0.47 (0.23), and 0.49 (0.49), respectively. A significant difference in survival was found only between patients with blood group O vs A (hazard ratio, 2.00; confidence interval, 1.25-3.21). Conclusions: ABO blood group is associated with the prognosis of HCC patients treated with TACE monotherapy. In our data, patients with blood group O tended to have the best survival. However, only blood group A patients had a significantly shorter survival rate comparing to blood group O.

Effect of ABO blood group on postoperative overall survival and recurrence-free survival rate in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy: a multi-center retrospective cohort study

“…In another study in 2022, K Mohkam et al [ 32 ], by examining the effect of ABO blood group type on liver cancer recurrence after liver transplantation on 925 patients with HCC, showed that the 5-year survival and recurrence rate in patients with Blood type A was significantly higher than patients with non-A blood type, which was consistent with the results of our study. In another study, K Bannangkoon et al [ 35 ] evaluated the effect of ABO blood group type on the survival of patients with HCC treated with embolization. They showed that the patients with blood type O compared to non-O had a significantly higher survival rate, confirming our study’s results.…”