Prognostic Role of Serum Wisteria Floribunda Agglutinin-Positive Mac-2 Binding Protein Level in Early Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2 binding protein (WFA+-M2BP) in predicting overall survival for patients with hepatitis B- and hepatitis C-related early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (ESHCC) after liver resection. Post-operative survival rates were compared according to WFA+-M2BP level and tumor stage. Six hundred and ten patients were identified and 198 were removed after application of the exclusion criteria; the median follow-up time was 4.33 years, and cancer-related death occurred in 117 (28.4%) patients. Age (p = 0.03), fibrosis grade (p = 0.042), cancer stage (p = 0.01), and WFA+-M2BP level (p = 0.001) were identified as independent risk factors for poor overall survival. The overall survival rates at 3 and 5 years for patients with WFA+-M2BP ≤ 1.12 were 0.92 and 0.90, respectively, and 0.76 and 0.61 for patients with WFA+-M2BP > 1.12 (p < 0.001). During the analysis of survival prediction, serum WFA+-M2BP level exhibited a higher log-likelihood and a lower AIC value compared to TNM stage (log likelihood: −638; AIC: 1279). Pre-operative serum WFA+-M2BP level provided important prognostic information after curative hepatic resection in our study.