title: Comparison of 7 staging systems in north Indian cohort of hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Many liver staging systems have been proposed for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however it is still controversial which staging system is best. The aim of this study was to compare the ability of 7 different staging systems in predicting survival in an Indian cohort of patients with HCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this prospective study, 101 HCC patients were diagnosed and stratified according to 7 different staging systems; along with analysis of independent predictors of survival and their correlation with it (Kaplan-Meier analysis).
  
  
  RESULTS
  CLIP, Tokyo score and BCLC staging system showed a significant difference in the probability of survival. All other staging systems failed to show a significant difference in survival. Age, portal vein thrombosis, serum bilirubin, MELD score showed a significant difference with survival in univariate analysis. However, serum bilirubin was the independent predictor of survival with a hazard ratio of 1.609 (95% CI 1.015-2.553, p = 0.043).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CLIP, Tokyo score and BCLC are the most useful staging systems in an Indian cohort.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarma
authors.forename: Balkrishan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Yogesh Kumar
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Chawla
authors.forename: Shweta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kapil
authors.forename: Bhupesh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Singla
authors.forename: Naveen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kalra
authors.forename: Arunashu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Behera
authors.forename: Ajay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Duseja
authors.forename: Radha Krishan
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Dhiman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D058625:End Stage Liver Disease / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D016019:Survival Analysis