PURPOSE: HCC is a complicated disease with high mortality rates and limited treatment options. No universal clinical or molecular classification established to inform better treatment options. There has been very limited success in determining a molecular profile that represent valid drivers in HCC patients and thus no targeted agents have obtained marketing approval. However, emerging data suggest the FGF19-pathway as a HCC driver and a potential therapeutic target. This research study aims to investigate whether the HCC prognostic risk factor, serum AFP, is predictive of FGF19 protein expression as assessed by immunohistochemistry in advanced HCC patients.
METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis was performed from baseline data collected in a Phase 1 study conducted at various centers across the US, EU, and Asia. Only advanced HCC patients with adequate liver function were eligible for enrollment. Demographic data, detailed history of HCC, and any prior treatments or surgeries were recorded. Baseline laboratory values and prognostic factors including performance status (ECOG), lab values (i.e. bilirubin, albumin), and the number, size and biomarker status of the tumor(s) were collected. Differences between groups were assessed by t test, or Chi-square test, as appropriate. Multivariate logistic stepwise regression analyses were performed including all parameters with highly significant correlations in the multivariate analysis.
RESULTS: Only AFP, metastatic disease, and prior surgery met the criteria to be incorporated into the final model. Results indicated that high AFP had a statistically significant (p-value = .01) positive association (Wald chi-square statistic = 6.601) with positive FGF19 IHC status. The odds ratio for being FGF19 IHC+ was 12.216 among the high AFP subjects as compared to low AFP subjects, and also statistically significant but had a very wide 95% confidence interval (1.811, 82.79).
CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that HCC patients with high serum AFP levels have a twelve fold higher chance of having a positive FGF19 IHC status than those with low AFP levels. Further studies are warranted in order to replicate the data in a larger sample size to understand future clinical implications once treatment options become available for FGF19 IHC positive patients.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/23745 |
| Date | 12 July 2017 |
| Creators | Clifford, Corinne |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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