Yang Xie, Xiangyang Sun, Fubo Xie, Wencheng Jian, Qingliang Wang, Xiaochen Ma, Caixia Li, Kai Zhang

Department of Radiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Kai Zhang, Department of Radiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Shandong, People’s Republic of China, Tel +8618560081593, Email fifa6107@126.com

Purpose: To examine the relationship between lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels and soluble programmed cell death-ligand 1 (sPD-L1) levels in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).
Methods: A total of 83 hCC patients participated in this study. Patients were categorized into subgroups based on their alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, presence or absence of extrahepatic metastasis, vascular invasion, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage, tumor response, tumor size, and number LDH and sPD-L1 levels were compared before and after TACE (3, 7, and 30 days post-TACE).
Results: LDH and sPD-L1 levels were significantly higher at 3 and 7 days post-TACE than at baseline. Positive correlations were observed between changes in LDH levels and sPD-L1 levels at 3 and 7 days post-TACE. LDH levels were higher in patients with elevated AFP compared to those in the normal AFP group at 3 and 7 days post-TACE, in the stable disease (SD) group compared to complete response (CR) and partial response (PR) groups at 7 days post-TACE, and in those with tumor > 5 cm compared with those with tumor ≤ 5 cm at 3 and 7 days after TACE (all P < 0.05). sPD-L1 levels were higher in patients with vascular invasion than those without vascular invasion at 3 and 7 days post-TACE, in the SD group compared to CR and PR groups at 3 and 7 days post-TACE, and in those with tumor > 5 cm compared to those with tumor < 5 cm at 3 and 7 days after TACE (all P < 0.05).
Conclusion: A positive correlation was found between LDH expression and sPD-L1 levels, suggesting LDH as a potential biomarker for assessing immune status in HCC patients following TACE.

Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, immunotherapy, lactate dehydrogenase, soluble programmed cell death ligand-1, transarterial chemoembolization