Predictive value of serum gamma-glutamyltransferase levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Here we assessed the predictive value of gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT) for the prognosis of patients with HCC and compared the gamma-GT with other prognostic factors. We retrospectively analyzed outcomes for 858 patients first diagnosed with HCC. Cox univariate and multivariate analyses receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used for the study of significance of prognostic factor. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to assess the value of gamma-GT as an HCC prognostic factor in different classifications of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) or Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) and different levels of serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP). We showed patient survival rates were significantly associated with gamma-GT as well as serum biological markers including absolute neutrophil count (ANC), absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), AFP. A gamma-GT >= 75 U/L strongly indicated poor prognosis for HCC patients. The survival time of patients with gamma-GT >= 75 U/L was significantly shorter in advanced BCLC and TNM stages and at any serum AFP level. All these results suggested that baseline gamma-GT could effectively aid in determining the prognosis of patients with HCC, and the prognostic value of gamma-GT >= 75 U/L was superior to that of Child-Pugh class, MELD stage, and serum AFP.