Pre-sarcopenia and Mac-2 binding protein glycosylation isomer as predictors of recurrence and prognosis of early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The Mac-2 binding protein glycosylation isomer (M2BPGi), a fibrosis marker in various liver diseases, is reportedly a prognostic marker in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent hepatectomy. AIM: To evaluate whether the M2BPGi value, M2BP, and pre-sarcopenia before radiofrequency ablation (RFA) could be useful recurrence and prognostic markers in patients with early-stage HCC. METHODS: In total, 160 patients with early-stage primary HCC treated with RFA were separately analyzed as hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive and HCV-negative. Factors contributing to recurrence and liver-related death, including M2BP, M2BPGi, and skeletal muscle mass index, were statistically analyzed. Eighty-three patients were HCV-positive and 77 were HCV-negative. RESULTS: In HCV-positive patients, only des-γ-carboxy-prothrombin ≥ 23 mAU/mL was a significant poor prognostic factor affecting survival after RFA. In HCV-negative patients, M2BPGi ≥ 1.86 cutoff index was significantly associated with tumor recurrence, while M2BP was not. M2BPGi ≥ 1.86 cutoff index (hazard ratio, 4.89; 95% confidence interval: 1.97-12.18; P < 0.001) and pre-sarcopenia (hazard ratio, 3.34, 95% confidence interval: 1.19-9.37; P = 0.022) were independent significant poor prognostic factors in HCV-negative patients. CONCLUSION: In HCV-negative patients with primary HCC treated with RFA, lower M2BPGi contributed to a lower tumor recurrence rate and longer survival period. Pre-sarcopenia contributed to the poor prognosis independently in HCV-negative patients. These factors might be useful recurrence and prognostic markers for early-stage primary HCC.