High serum interleukin‐34 level is a predictor of poor prognosis in patients with non‐viral hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Aims We aimed to investigate the impact of interleukin (IL)‐34 and YKL‐40, regulators of hepatic fibrosis and tumor growth, on the prognosis of patients with non‐viral hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods We enrolled 159 non‐viral HCC patients (age, 70.8 ± 8.5 years; female/male, 43/116). Of these, 86 patients were alive and 73 patients had died at the censor time point. Serum IL‐34 and YKL‐40 levels were quantified by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Patients were stratified by the median level of serum IL‐34 to examine its effect on survival. Multivariate analysis and random forest analysis were used to evaluate the impact of IL‐34 and YKL‐40 on the prognosis of non‐viral HCC patients. Results Interleukin‐34 (hazard ratio [HR] 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13–1.49; P ≤ 0.01), tumor size (HR 1.63; 95% CI, 1.37–1.94; P ≤ 0.01), and tumor number (HR 1.53; 95% CI, 1.25–1.87; P ≤ 0.01) were independent predictive factors for survival. Furthermore, the survival rates were significantly lower in the high IL‐34 group than in the low IL‐34 group (5‐year survival rates, 34.7% vs. 59.8%, respectively; P < 0.05). In the random forest analysis for survival, IL‐34 was the third‐highest ranking factor, following tumor size and number. In a stratification analysis, serum α‐fetoprotein level and Fibrosis‐4 index were independent positive risk factors for high serum IL‐34 level. YKL‐40 was not associated with prognosis in either the multivariate or random forest analysis. Conclusion Interleukin‐34 was an independent factor for survival of non‐viral HCC patients. Interleukin‐34 might be associated with prognosis through tumor and hepatic fibrosis factors.

Prognostic nomogram for hepatocellular carcinoma with fibrosis of varying degrees

“…Therefore, a better understanding of the role of fibrosis score in HCC prognosis and a nomogram constructed to include fibrosis score may provide more-accurate prognostic prediction for HCC patients. [18]. Also, Suh et al found no significant difference in OS between mild and severe fibrosis (P = 0.267) [14].…”

“…The discrepancies may be partly attributed to the different criteria of enrolling patients. Noda et al evaluated the effect of different degrees of fibrosis on the prognosis of non-viral HCC patients [18]. Suh et al investigated the influence of liver fibrosis on prognosis only for HCC with Child-Pugh grade A and a single HCC <5 cm [14].…”

Profiles Combining Muscle Atrophy and Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Are Associated with Prognosis of Patients with Stage IV Gastric Cancer

“…The differences in continuous and categorical variables between the Alive and Deceased groups were analyzed by Wilcoxon rank sum test and chi-square test, respectively. In addition, independent factors and profiles associated with the mortality were analyzed using a Cox regression analysis with a step-wise variable selection and a decision-tree analysis, respectively [46,47]. Overall survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method followed by a log-rank test.…”

Identification of predictive factors in hepatocellular carcinoma outcome: A longitudinal study

“…Due to the limitations of the cohort studied, some important factors could not be included in the present study, such as genetic factors and cytokines, which are reported to be significantly associated with survival outcomes. For instance, EBI3 is suggested to be a cancer suppressor (20) and IL-34 may be associated with survival outcomes by regulating tumor growth and hepatic fibrosis in patients with HCC (21). Future prospective studies are required in order to investigate the relative importance of these factors.…”