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Updated: May 19, 2026
The Influence of Liver Resection on Intrahepatic Tumor Growth
Published on: April 9, 2016
Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio reflects hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after liver transplantation via inflammatory
Takashi Motomura1, Ken Shirabe, Yohei Mano
1Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Background & Aims:
Although the Milan criteria (MC) have been used to select liver transplantation candidates among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), many patients exceeding the MC have shown good prognosis. Preoperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a predictor of patient prognosis, but its mechanism has never been clarified.
Methods:
We assessed outcomes in 158 patients who had undergone living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for HCC. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) was determined in patients with high (≥ 4) and low (<4) NLR. Levels of expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin (IL)-8, IL-17, CD68, and CD163 were measured.
Results:
The 5-year RFS rate was significantly lower in patients with high (n=26) than with low (n=132) NLR (30.3% vs. 89.0%, p<0.0001), in patients with high (n=15) than with low (n=79) NLR who met the MC (73.6% vs. 100%, p=0.0008) and in patients with high (n=11) than with low (n=53) NLR who exceeded the MC (0% vs. 76.1%, p=0.0002). Tumor expression of VEGF, IL8, IL-17, CD68, and CD163 was similar in the high and low NLR groups, but serum and peritumoral IL-17 levels were significantly higher in the high-NLR group (p=0.01 each). The density of peritumoral CD163 correlated with the density of peritumoral IL-17-producing cells (p=0.04) and was significantly higher in the high-NLR group (p=0.005).
Conclusions:
NLR predicts outcomes after LDLT for HCC via the inflammatory tumor microenvironment. Combined with the MC, NLR may be a new criterion for LDLT candidates with HCC.
