Prognostic role of ABO blood group in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma after transarterial chemoembolization

Abstract

BackgroundThe association of ABO blood group with prognosis of several malignancies has been established. However, its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear.Patients and methodsIn this study, we investigated the prognostic role of ABO blood group in unresectable HCC patients receiving transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) as an initial treatment. Medical records of 2,611 HCC patients were collected, and clinical data of 282 unresectable HCC patients receiving TACE were ultimately analyzed retrospectively. A prognostic nomogram was generated for predicting 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival (OS) probability. A total of 114 (40.4%), 69 (24.5%), 64 (22.7%), and 35 (12.4%) HCC patients had blood groups O, A, B, and AB, respectively.ResultsThe median OS times for patients with blood groups O, A, B, and AB were 24, 23, 20, and 20 months, respectively. Patients with blood group AB (hazard ratio [HR]=2.050, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.331–3.157, P=0.001) or group non-O (HR=1.479, 95% CI, 1.110–1.972, P=0.008) had a poorer OS than those with blood group O. The prognostic nomogram, with a c-index of 0.701, was modest in predicting OS of unresectable HCC patients.ConclusionPatients with non-O blood group, particularly blood group AB, had a worse OS compared with those having blood type O. ABO blood group can predict the prognosis in patients with unresectable HCC undergoing TACE as an initial therapy. Further external validation in larger cohorts is necessary to confirm their usefulness in clinical practice.

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

“…Our cohort showed that ABO blood group was associated with OS in a study of HCC patients who underwent TACE monotherapy. were similar to previous reports (Wu et al, 2017;Li et al, 2018) that demonstrated a better prognosis and oncologic outcome in HCC patients with blood type O compared with non-O groups. However, there were some differences in terms of methodology.…”

“…On the other hand, the same study reported that patients with blood group A have a significantly higher risk of cancer compared with non-A groups. However, only a few investigations (Wu et al, 2017;Li et al, 2018) have studied the prognostic role of ABO blood group in HCC patients following treatment. Therefore, for the first time, we evaluated the correlation between ABO blood group and the oncologic outcome of HCC patients who underwent TACE in the Thai population to bridge the aforementioned gap.…”

Prognostic role of ABO blood group and Rhesus factor in cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

“…There are no enough studies showing the relationship between HCC survival and blood groups. In one study, AB and non-O blood group and in another study B and AB group were shown to have poor OS 13,29 . In this study, HCC patients showed 1- and 2-year survival rates equal to 39.8%, and 9.6% and there was no statistically significant difference in the effect of ABO and RH blood groups on OS.…”

Association of the ABO blood group with certain human diseases

“…One study found individuals with phenotype B had a median overall survival of only 34 months compared with 55 months for individuals with phenotype O [66] , which may have been due to B blood group having a higher vascular tumor invasion rate [67] . In addition, the tumor was less multicentric in the AB blood group, while, AB and non-O blood group were shown to have poor OS [68] .…”