Portal Vein Thrombosis and Markers of Inflammation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background Macroscopic portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is a major poor prognosis factor in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Inflammation is increasingly recognized to be part of the hepatocarcinogenic process and its markers are also prognostically useful. Aims To examine the relationship of inflammation biomarkers to the presence of PVT and to survival in PVT patients with HCC. Methods A large HCC cohort was examined for the presence of PVT and analyzed retrospectively. Results Blood levels of NLR, PLR, ESR, CRP, AFP and GGTP were significantly related to the presence of PVT, but not the Glasgow Index. For patients with low alpha-fetoprotein levels, blood ESR and GGTP levels were also significantly increased in patients with PVT compared with those in patients without PVT. In a Cox regression model, serum GGTP levels had a significantly increased hazard ratio on death (1.52,p = 0.008). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that PVT patients with low serum GGTP levels had significantly longer survival than PVT patients with high GGTP levels (p = 0.0041). Conclusions Indices of inflammation, especially serum GGTP levels, related significantly to the presence of PVT and to survival in HCC patients with PVT.