Serum Amyloid A is a Novel Prognostic Biomarker in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the prognostic value of serum amyloid A (SAA) in patients with hepatocellularcarcinoma (HCC) undergoing surgery. Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>: Preoperative serum samples of 328 patients withHCC who underwent curative resection and of 47 patients with benign liver lesion were assayed. Serum levelsof SAA were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and its correlations with clinicopathologicalcharacteristics and survival were explored. <br/><b>Results</b>: Levels of SAA were significantly higher in patients withHCC than those with benign liver lesion. There were strong correlations between preoperative serum SAA leveland tumor size and more advanced BCLC stage. On univariate analysis, elevated SAA was associated withreduced disease-free survival and overall survival (p=0.001 and 0.03, respectively). Multivariate analyses showedthat serum SAA level was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (hazard ratio 2.80, p=0.01).<br/><b>Conclusions</b>: High SAA serum level is a novel biomarker for the prognosis of HCC patients.