title: Prognostic value of serum γ-glutamyl transferase in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization combined with conformal radiotherapy.
abstract: The detection of γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT) has previously been reported to be useful in the diagnosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of the present study was to investigate the baseline serum GGT levels in patients with intermediate HCC (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage B) following treatment with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT). A total of 154 intermediate HCC patients with Child-Pugh grade A were retrospectively investigated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine the optimal threshold for the GGT serum levels, and univariate and multivariate analyses were used to establish the prognostic factors. The median overall survival (OS) time was 24.3 months. The optimal threshold for GGT was 85 U/L (sensitivity, 75.13%; specificity, 69.81%; and area under the ROC curve, 0.763). The one-, three- and five-year OS rates were 79.9, 49.7 and 17.2%, respectively, for patients with low GGT levels (≤85 U/l) and 52.3, 22.1 and 8.5%, respectively, for patients with high GGT levels (>85 U/l) (P=0.007). The results indicated that the serum GGT level was an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio=2.32; P=0.007) for OS. Furthermore, in subgroups stratified according to serum α-fetoprotein, gross tumor volume and radiation dose, serum GGT was also found to correlate with OS (P<0.05). Therefore, the baseline GGT level may be a significant prognostic factor for intermediate HCC patients with Child-Pugh grade A following TACE combined with 3DCRT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China ; School of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Jinan-Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Renben
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiangjiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hongjiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shumei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Kunli
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaoqing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China ; School of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Jinan-Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dou
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China ; School of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Jinan-Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Linzhi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
keywords: embolization; hepatocellular carcinoma; prognostic value; serum γ-glutamyl transferase; three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy; transcatheter arterial chemoembolization