A retrospective discussion of the prognostic value of combining prothrombin time(PT) and fibrinogen(Fbg) in patients with Hepatocellular carcinoma

Aims: The levels of coagulation system tests have been studied in various cancers. In this study, our aim is to evaluate the prognostic value of pretreatment plasma coagulation tests in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Patient and methods: A retrospective study was performed in 539 patients with HCC, and follow-up period was at least 60 months until recurrence or death. The prognostic significance of coagulation system tests (prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, fibrinogen) were determined by univariate and multivariate Cox hazard models. Then, according to the results of the multivariate analyses, we proposed the coagulation-Based Stage, which combined the independent risk factors (prothrombin time and fibrinogen). Results: Coagulation system tests including prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen (Fbg) were analyzed. Patients with prolonged PT (>= 12.1 sec) levels had significantly poor overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), not only in the entire cohort (HR: 1.661, 95% CI: 1.125-2.451, p=0.011 vs. HR: 1.660, 95% CI: 1.125-2.451, p=0.011), but also in the subgroups stratified by pathological stage (stage I-II and stage III-IV). Additionally, high Fbg (>= 2.83 g/L) levels experienced significantly decreased OS and DFS (HR: 2.158, 95% CI: 1.427-3.263, p<0.001 vs. HR: 2.161, 95% CI: 1.429-3.267, p<0.001), not only in the entire cohort but also in the subgroups stratified by pathological stage (stage I-II and stage III-IV). All the patients were then stratified (based on combined PT and Fbg) into three groups, The OS for HCC patients were (41.37 +/- 17.76), (31.83 +/- 19.84) and (18.68 +/- 18.41) months, and the DFS for HCC patients were (41.15 +/- 17.88), (31.65 +/- 19.81) and (18.66 +/- 18.39) months. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the combination of plasma PT and Fbg levels should be evaluated as the valuable predictor of survival in patients with HCC.