Background: Treatment outcome for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is related to tumor burden and liver function. Grading systems assessing liver function need validation in different clinical settings.
Purpose: To evaluate drug-eluting embolic transarterial chemoembolization (DEE-TACE) in Child-Pugh A HCC with respect to albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) and platelet-albumin-bilirubin (P-ALBI) grade.
Material and methods: Forty-nine patients with Child-Pugh class A, diagnosed with HCC and allocated to DEE-TACE treatment, were retrospectively analyzed regarding tumor and treatment characteristics, radiological response (mRECIST) one month post treatment, overall survival (OS), and adverse events (AEs; CTCAE, grades ≥3) with respect to ALBI and P-ALBI grade.
Results: There were 21 ALBI 1 patients, 29 P-ALBI 1 patients, and 19 patients were both ALBI and P-ALBI 1. Objective response rate was 74% with no statistically significant difference for ALBI (1 vs. 2; P = 0.08), or P-ALBI (1 vs. 2; P = 0.49). OS was 14.8 months (range = 1.7-62.0; ALBI 1 vs. 2: P = 0.08; P-ALBI 1 vs. 2: P = 0.003). OS in responders with ALBI 1 and 2 was 28.9 vs.10.2 months ( P = 0.02), and P-ALBI 1 and 2 was 26.7 vs. 8.6 months ( P < 0.001). In multivariate analyses, both ALBI 2 (HR = 2.4, P = 0.02) and P-ALBI 2 (HR = 3.3, P < 0.01) were negative prognostic factors for survival. There were 15 AEs in 13 patients, with hepatic failure only occurring in ALBI 2 and P-ALBI 2 patients.
Conclusion: P-ALBI grade 1 and 2 differentiated survival in Child-Pugh A patients treated with DEE-TACE. Both grading systems can differentiate survival in patients responding to treatment.
Keywords: ALBI grade; DEE-TACE; P-ALBI grade; adverse events; hepatocellular carcinoma; mRECIST; overall survival.