The predictive value of abdominal fat area and volume for early recurrence of after resection hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND

Abdominal fat area has been reported to be associated with early recurrence (ER) after surgical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to compare the predictive value of abdominal fat area and volume for ER after resection of HCC.

METHODS

We retrospectively included 161 patients with single HCC ≤5 cm who underwent resection from May 2015 to June 2021. Visceral fat area (VFA) and subcutaneous fat area (SFA) were measured at L3, L4, and L5 vertebral levels, and L4-derived parameters were retained for subsequent analyses. Visceral fat volume (VFV) and subcutaneous fat volume (SFV) were assessed from the diaphragm to lower margin of L5. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify predictors of ER. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to compare predictive values.

RESULTS

Multivariate analysis identified VFA and VFV as independent risk factors for ER. ROC analysis showed similar predictive values for VFA (AUC: 0.712) and VFV (AUC: 0.730; p = 0.307). The patients were divided into two groups based on tumor size: group A [(d) ≤ 3 cm] and group B [3 cm < (d) ≤ 5 cm]. VFA demonstrated a higher predictive value for group A (AUC: 0.796) compared to group B (AUC: 0.636) (p = 0.049).

CONCLUSIONS

Both VFA and VFV showed comparable predictive value for ER in patients with single HCC ≤5 cm, and VFA appeared to have better predictive performance in patients with tumor diameter ≤ 3 cm.