Abstract:
Objective:To analyze the changes of serum E-cadherin, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)and secreted protein Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) in patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with radiofrequency ablation and their predictive value for survival prognosis.
Methods:A total of 190 patients with postoperative recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma admitted to Suzhou Municipal Hospital from January 2016 to March 2022 were selected and were treated with TACE combined with radiofrequency ablation.They were divided into death group (30 cases) and survival group (160 cases)according to survival prognosis.The baseline data, changes in serum E-cadherin, VEGF and DKK1 before treatment, after TACE and radiofrequency were compared between the two groups.Cox was used to analyze the relative factors influencing survival prognosis, the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to analyze the value of serum E-cadherin, VEGF and DKK1 after TACE and radiofrequency to predict survival prognosis, and the Kaplan-Meyer (KM) survival curve was used to analyze the survival rate of patients with different serum E-cadherin, VEGF and DKK1 expression levels.
Results:BCLC stage was higher in the death group than in the survival group (
P< 0.05); serum Ecadherin after TACE and radiofrequency was lower in the death group than in the survival group, and VEGF and DKK1 were higher than those in the survival group (
P< 0.05); Cox analysis showed that serum E-cadherin after radiofrequency was a relevant protective factor for survival prognosis in patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma, and BCLC stage, serum VEGF and DKK1 after radiofrequency were relevant risk factors for survival prognosis in patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma(
P< 0.05); the area under the ROC curve(AUC)of serum E-cadherin, VEGF, and DKK1 in predicting survival and prognosis after radiofrequency was more than that after TACE, and the AUC of serum E-cadherin+VEGF+DKK1 was more than that of serum E-cadherin, VEGF and DKK1 alone(
P< 0.05); the survival rate of patients with high levels of serum E-cadherin was higher than that of patients with low levels, and the survival rate of patients with high levels of VEGF and DKK1 was lower than that of patients with low levels(
P< 0.05).
Conclusion:The changes in serum E-cadherin, VEGF and DKK1 are associated to the survival prognosis after TACE combined with radiofrequency ablation in recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma, and the expression levels of the three after combined radiofrequency detection can provide a reference basis for clinically predicting survival prognosis.