Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Sep 15, 2023; 15(9): 1662-1672
Published online Sep 15, 2023. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v15.i9.1662
Fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio predicts overall survival of hepatocellular carcinoma
Hao Sun, Jie Ma, Jian Lu, Zhi-Hong Yao, Hai-Liang Ran, Hai Zhou, Zhong-Qin Yuan, Yun-Chao Huang, Yuan-Yuan Xiao
Hao Sun, Hai-Liang Ran, Yuan-Yuan Xiao, NHC Key Laboratory of Drug Addiction Medicine, School of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, Yunnan Province, China
Jie Ma, Jian Lu, Zhi-Hong Yao, Hai Zhou, Zhong-Qin Yuan, Yun-Chao Huang, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, Yunnan Province, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed to the conception and design of the study; the data extraction conditions were determined by Huang YC and Xiao YY; data extraction was performed by Sun H, Ma J, Lu J, Yao ZH, Zhou H, Yuan ZQ; data analysis plan was determined by Xiao YY, and data analysis was performed by Sun H, Ma J, Tan HL; the first draft of the manuscript was written by Sun H and Ma J, and all the authors commented on the previous versions of the manuscript; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the Basic Research Program of Yunnan, No.202201AT070200; the Top Young Talents of Yunnan Ten Thousand Talents Plan, No. YNWR-QNBJ-2018-286.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Review Committee of Kunming Medical University.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Data sharing statement: Database of this manuscript can be available from the corresponding author under reasonable request.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yuan-Yuan Xiao, PhD, Professor, NHC Key Laboratory of Drug Addiction Medicine, School of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, No.1168 West Chunrong Road, Yuhua Street, Chenggong District, Kunming 650500, Yunnan Province, China. 33225647@qq.com
Received: May 31, 2023
Peer-review started: May 31, 2023
First decision: July 23, 2023
Revised: August 4, 2023
Accepted: August 18, 2023
Article in press: August 18, 2023
Published online: September 15, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR) has been found significantly associated with survival of some types of cancer. Less is known regarding to its association with prognosis for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.

Research motivation

We intend to thoroughly discuss the association between baseline serum FAR and the overall survival (OS) for HCC patients.

Research objectives

To provide estimation for the association between baseline FAR and the OS of HCC patients, and to discuss potential effect modification by some important characteristics of the patients.

Research methods

Retrospective study design was used to identify qualified HCC patients from a provincial cancer hospital in China. Relevant information was extracted from the Hospital Information System. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were plotted to compare the OS of HCC patients with different baseline serum FAR levels. Cox proportional hazards models were applied to estimate the adjusted association between FAR and the OS of HCC patients. The Restricted Cubic Spline was used to further delineate the dose-response association.

Research results

A lower baseline serum FAR level was associated with an adjusted hazard ratio of 2.43 (95% confidence interval: 1.87–3.15) in the OS of HCC patients, with identifiable dose-response trend. The FAR-OS association was more prominent in HCC patients with a lower baseline serum aspartate aminotransferase or carbohydrate antigen 125 level.

Research conclusions

Serum FAR is a prominent prognostic indicator for HCC.

Research perspectives

Intervention measures which aiming at regulating serum FAR might of clinical interest for treating HCC patients.