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©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 28, 2017; 23(44): 7863-7874
Published online Nov 28, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i44.7863
Published online Nov 28, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i44.7863
Prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma development by aminotransferase to platelet ratio index in primary biliary cholangitis
Ka-Shing Cheung, Wai-Kay Seto, James Fung, Lung-Yi Mak, Ching-Lung Lai, Man-Fung Yuen, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China
Wai-Kay Seto, James Fung, Ching-Lung Lai, Man-Fung Yuen, State Key Laboratory for Liver Research, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Author contributions: Cheung KS designed and performed the study, were involved in statistical analysis and interpretation of the data, and wrote the manuscript; Seto WK and Mak LY performed the study, statistical analysis and interpretation of the data; Fung J, Lai CL and Yuen MF revised and edited the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by The Institutional Review Board of The University of Hong Kong/Hospital Authority, Hong Kong West Cluster.
Informed consent statement: The Institutional Review Board of The University of Hong Kong/Hospital Authority waived the need for written informed consent as there was no direct contact with eligible subjects and no additional blood taking.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Man-Fung Yuen, Professor, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China. mfyuen@hkucc.hku.hk
Telephone: +852-22553984 Fax: +852-28162863
Received: July 28, 2017
Peer-review started: July 28, 2017
First decision: August 30, 2017
Revised: September 25, 2017
Accepted: September 28, 2017
Article in press: September 28, 2017
Published online: November 28, 2017
Peer-review started: July 28, 2017
First decision: August 30, 2017
Revised: September 25, 2017
Accepted: September 28, 2017
Article in press: September 28, 2017
Published online: November 28, 2017
Core Tip
Core tip: Currently, no reliable predictive models exist for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Our study showed that a higher aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) at 1 year after treatment (APRI-r1) was associated with a higher HCC risk. The performance of APRI-r1 in predicting HCC was satisfactory (area under the receiver operating curve: 0.77). Combination of APRI-r1 with treatment response further stratified HCC risk. Owing to its simplicity, non-invasiveness and cost-effectiveness, APRI can be used as a marker to streamline the HCC surveillance protocol in PBC patients.