Naples Prognostic Score is an Independent Prognostic Factor in Patients Undergoing Hepatectomy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: Nutritional and inflammatory status has been reported to be associated with the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but many studies did not include all biomarkers simultaneously. The present study aimed to determine the impact of Naples prognostic score (NPS) on the long-term survival in patients undergoing hepatectomy for HCC.

Methods: Patients with HCC after curative resection were eligible. Then, all patients were stratified into three groups according to the NPS. Clinical features and survival outcomes were compared among the three groups. Independent prognostic factors were determined by COX analysis. The time dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to compare prognostic performance with other immunonutrition scoring systems.

Results: A total of 476 patients were enrolled eventually. Baseline characteristics showed that patients with higher NPS had a higher proportion of poor liver function and advanced tumor features. Accordingly, Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that patients with higher NPS had a lower rate of overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Multivariable COX analysis demonstrated that NPS was an independent risk factor of OS (NPS group 2 vs 1: HR=1.958, 95% CI: 1.038-3.369, p = 0.038; NPS group 3 vs 1: HR=2.608, 95% CI: 1.358-5.008, p=0.004, respectively) and RFS (NPS group 2 vs 1: HR=2.014, 95% CI: 1.299-2-3.124, p=0.002; NPS group 3 vs 1: HR=2.002, 95% CI: 1.262-3.175, p=0.003, respectively). The time-dependent ROC curve showed that NPS was superior to other models in prognostic performance and discriminatory power for long-term survival (median AUC 0.675, 95% CI: 0.586-0.712, P < 0.05).

Conclusion: The NPS is a simple tool strongly associated with long-term survival in patients undergoing curative hepatectomy for HCC.