High Tumor Mutational Burden Linked to Worse OS, RFS in Patients with HCC

In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the tumor burden score (TBS) is often used as a prognostic marker to determine long-term survival and the extent of tumor involvement.

A recent single-center retrospective study has evaluated patient data to analyze the link between TBS, patient survival, and disease recurrence.

The study enrolled 576 patients with HCC who underwent radical resection between 2013 and 2022. X-tile software was used to determine the threshold TBS of ≥10.77 to judge patient prognostic outcomes after radical resection, while the control group consisted of patients with TBS ≤ 10.77.

Each patient was evaluated for the relationship between their TBS and overall survival (OS) rates, and cumulative recurrence. Kaplan-Meier curves showed that patients with high TBS had significantly decreased OS and increased recurrence rates compared to the study’s control group.

A multivariate Cox proportional regression model also demonstrated that patients with high TBS had worse OS (HR=2.56, 95% CI 1.64-3.99, P<.001) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR=1.55, 95% CI 1.02-2.35, P<.001).

During the median follow-up period of 1.79 (0.92-3.61) years, 132 (22.92%) patients dies. The

Patients who have high TBS while undergoing radical resection for HCC potentially have worse OS and RFS compared with those who have lower TBS.