Background: It is well known that the prognosis of cancer patients after tumor resection is closely related to the patient's autoimmune ability and nutritional status. A large number of studies have shown that the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and Onodera's prognostic nutritional index (OPNI) are significantly correlated with the prognosis of various tumors. In this study, we analyzed the prognostic value of NLR, PLR and OPNI for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for the first time.
Patients and Methods: Data of hepatocellular carcinoma patients undergoing hepatectomy in Changzhi People’s Hospital (Changzhi, China) from 2011 to 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 286 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were included in the analysis. The Optimum cut-off values of OPNI, NLR and PLR were determined by using the X-tile program. The overall survival (OS) was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method and verified by log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was performed using Cox Proportional Hazard Regression model to determine independent prognostic indicators for HCC.
Results: Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that OPNI (p<0.001), Treatment (Surgery, p=0.04; Interventional therapy, p=0.002), Postoperative treatment (YES, p=0.004) and Stage can be used as independent prognostic maker for HCC. Comparing the P values and hazard ratios, we found out that the OPNI has greatest influence on prognosis in these preoperative indexes. The optimal cut-off values of NLR, PLR and OPNI were 2.5, 133.3 and 39.5, respectively. Compared with the low OPNI group, the high OPNI group had a better prognosis. In the correlation analysis between OPNI and clinicopathological features, only Age and NLR showed statistical differences, while others did not.
Conclusions: OPNI can be used as a simple and effective independent prognostic marker for hepatocellular carcinoma.