Purpose: Preoperative fibrinogen levels are associated with the development, recurrence and metastasis of malignant tumors. This study was designed to investigate the clinical value of preoperative fibrinogen/lymphocyte count ratio (FLR) index in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Patients and Methods: The clinical data of 479 patients with HCC who underwent radical resection were retrospectively analyzed. The correlation between FLR and clinicopathological features was analyzed by chi-square test or non-parametric test. The overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed by Kaplan–Meier method.
Results: The optimal cut-off value of FLR was determined as 1.6 according to the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, in order to predict prognosis for HCC patients after radical resection. It was further found that FLR level was correlated with tumor size, TNM stage, microvascular invasion and prognosis. Multivariate Cox regression analyses found that FLR was an independent predictor for postoperative OS (overall survival) (p = 0.002) and PFS (progression-free survival) (p = 0.001) in patients with HCC; and the 1-, 3- and 5-year OS and PFS of HCC patients in the FLR ≤ 1.6 level group were significantly higher than those in the FLR > 1.6 level group.
Conclusion: Preoperative FLR level is a novel and effective predictor of prognosis in patients with HCC, and elevated FLR level is associated with poor prognosis in patients with HCC.
Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, FLR, prognosis, recurrence