Elevated Serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen Is Associated with a Worse Survival Outcome of Patients After Liver Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: a Propensity Score Matching Analysis

The relationship between serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and postoperative prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been reported. Data of 5410 consecutive HCC patients who underwent hepatectomy was retrospectively reviewed. Survival curves for overall survival (OS) and tumor recurrence (TR) were depicted using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Independent risk factors of OS and TR were analyzed with Cox hazard regression model. Besides, a one-to-one propensity score-matched (PSM) subset was performed to reduce selection bias. Subgroup analysis was done according to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection or not. Serum CEA aeyen5.1 mu g/L was an independent risk factor of OS and TR in the entire cohort and PSM subset (OS-hazard ratio = 1.218, 95 % confidence interval = 1.060-1.400; 1.383, 1.133-1.688, respectively; TR-1.256, 1.114-1.417; 1.258, 1.067-1.484, respectively). Subgroup analysis showed that CEA aeyen5.1 mu g/L was an independent risk factor of OS and TR in the HBV infection group (OS-1.234, 1.065-1.429; TR-1.231, 1.083-1.399) but not in the non-HBV infection group (OS-1.376, 0.895-2.117; TR-1.437, 0.989-2.088). Serum CEA aeyen5.1 mu g/L was an independent risk factor of OS and TR of HCC patients, and patients with CEA aeyen5.1 mu g/L had poorer prognosis, especially for HCC patients with HBV infection.