Abstract:
Objective To explore the association between serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) level before radiotherapy (RT) and the radiotherapy efficiency and prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after RT.
Methods The clinical data of 103 patients with HCC who received RT in Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University from October 2016 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. For these patients, the tumors were confined to the liver and serum TNF-α level was tested before RT. The survival rate was calculated by Kaplan-Meier, and Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze the independent factors affecting the prognosis of patients.
Results 103 patients included 87 males and 16 females. The median age was 63 years, ranging from 28 to 83 years, the maximum diameter of intrahepatic tumors ranged from 0.8 to 13.3 cm, and the cumulative maximum diameter of intrahepatic tumors ranged from 0.8 to 13.3 cm. The median follow-up time was 22.0 months, ranging from 6.3 to 64.7 months. The 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year overall survival rates were 79.5%, 52.8%, 43.9% and 100.0%, 84.4%, 82.1% in patients with pre-RT TNF-α > 10.2 pg/mL (n=31) and TNF-α≤10.2 pg/mL (n=72). There was no significant difference in RT efficiency between the two groups. The overall survival time of the two groups was significantly different (P < 0.001). The hazard ratio of pre-RT TNF-α was 3.137 (95%CI 1.437-6.848, P=0.004).
Conclusion Pre-RT serum TNF-α level may affect the prognosis of HCC patients after RT.