A Prediction Model for HCC Patients Undergoing TACE

A prediction model may serve as a viable management tool for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), according to a new study published in Discover Oncology.

“Previous clinic models for patients with [HCC] receiving [TACE] mainly focused on the overall survival, whereas a simple-to-use tool for predicting the response to the first TACE and the management of risk classification before TACE [is] lacking,” the researchers noted.

To develop a manually calculated scoring system, the researchers analyzed 437 patients with HCC who underwent TACE treatment. The population of interest was then randomly allocated into 2 groups: a training group comprising 350 patients and a validation group comprising 77 patients. The authors noted that 45 patients with HCC who had recently undergone TACE treatment were used to validate the model’s efficacy and applicability. The factors selected for the predictive model were based on the results of the LASSO analyses. Overall, researchers tested the discrimination, calibration ability, and clinic utility of the models in both the training and validation groups.

A model incorporating 3 objective imaging characteristics and 2 indicators of liver function demonstrated robust discrimination, with good calibration and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve scores of 0.735, 0.706, and 0.884 in the training group and validation groups. Moreover, the model successfully classified patients into low-risk, median-risk, and high-risk groups based on the calculated score, with rates of no response to TACE of 26.3%, 40.2%, and 76.8%, respectively.

The researchers concluded that this model “may be a useful and layered management tool for patients with HCC undergoing TACE.”