A new use for an old index: preoperative high-density lipoprotein predicts recurrence in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after curative resections

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma has high incidence and mortality worldwide. Liver is the site of most metabolic biotransformation, which could reflect the status of cells. Most plasma apolipoproteins, endogenous lipids and lipoproteins are synthesized in the liver. Therefore, the effects of lipid metabolites on prognosis of HCC deserved to be explored. METHODS: We prospectively included 58 healthy donors (HD), 50 chronic hepatitis (CH) patients and a training cohort of 189 patients with HCC who underwent curative resections at Zhongshan Hospital from January 2012 to August 2012. We identified the optimal HDL(PO) cutoff value at 0.98 mmol/L and used it to stratify patients into low- or high-HDL(PO) groups for the entire cohort and four low-recurrent-risk subgroups. We also included an independent validation group of 182 HCC patients to validate this cutoff value. Prognostic values of HDL(PO) and other factors were determined by Kaplan–Meier curves and the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: The low-HDL(PO) group had a higher median tumor grade (P = 0.020) and a higher recurrence rate (P = 0.032). Results of multivariate analysis showed that preoperative γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and HDL(PO) were independent predictors of recurrence. Moreover, the predictive value of HDL(PO) was retained in four low-recurrent-risk subgroups. As expected, clinicopathologic characteristics and predictive values were similar in the validation and training cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: HDL(PO) is an accessible predictor of HCC recurrence after liver resections that can help identify patients who need more careful monitoring and follow-up care. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12944-017-0509-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.