Serum liver enzymes serve as prognostic factors in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
Liver functions, reflective of the overall status of the host, have been reported to be important factors affecting the prognosis in many types of cancers. In this study, we explored the influences of liver enzymes albumin (ALB), globulin (GELO), total protein (TP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TBIL), direct bilirubin (DBIL), gamma glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) on the overall survival (OS) in a number of 173 patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC).


METHODS
Between 2011 and 2015, we enrolled patients with pathologically proven locally advanced or metastatic ICC. The impact of ALB, GELO, TP, ALP, ALT, AST, TBIL, DBIL, GGT, and LDH on OS were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Next, the associations between these liver enzymes and OS were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. Finally, the role of these enzymes in OS was evaluated in the subgroups.


RESULTS
Elevated liver enzymes were linked with OS. We revealed that independent prognostic factors of poor outcome were ALP, TBIL, DBIL, and GGT, whereas ALB is a protective factor in ICC patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results demonstrate that these liver enzymes may serve as valuable predictive markers in ICC patients.
Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Chenyue
C
Zhang
Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospita & Institute, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
Haiyong
H
Wang
Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Zhouyu
Z
Ning
Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Litao
L
Xu
Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Liping
L
Zhuang
Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Peng
P
Wang
Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Zhiqiang
Z
Meng
intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma; liver enzymes; overall survival; prognosis