Diagnostic value of serum inflammatory markers in predicting early refractoriness of transarterial chemoembolization in patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Stage 0, A, and B hepatocellular carcinoma

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is an established therapeutic strategy for intermediate stage Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, patients who are early refractory to TACE may not benefit from repeated TACE treatment. Our primary objective was to assess the diagnostic value of inflammatory markers in identifying early TACE refractory for patients with early (BCLC 0 and A) or intermediate (BCLC B) stage HCC. We retrospectively reviewed the HCC patients who underwent TACE as the initial treatment in two hospitals. Patients with early TACE refractoriness had significantly poorer median overall survival (OS) (16 vs 40 months, P