Serum AKR1B10 as an indicator of unfavorable survival of hepatocellular carcinoma

Background and Aims A large-scale multicenter study validated aldo–keto reductase 1B10 (AKR1B10) as a new serum marker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of serum AKR1B10 in HCC. Methods 273 naïve HCC patients enrolled for serum AKR1B10 tests were followed up for 2 years. Survival and clinical data were collected. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and log-rank tests were used to estimate correlation of patient survival with serum AKR1B10. Univariate and multivariate COX regression analyses were used to evaluate the prognostic value of serum AKR1B10 level independently or in combination with other clinicopathological factors. α-fetoprotein (AFP) was analyzed in parallel for comparison. Results Serum AKR1B10 associated with tumor stage ( p = 0.012), size ( p = 0.004), primary tumor number ( p = 0.019), and Child–Pugh classification ( p = 0.003). HCC patients with a high level of serum AKR1B10 (≥ 267.9 pg/ml) had median survival (MS) of 25 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 20.788–29.212) vs. MS of 34 months (CI 28.911–39.089) in patients with normal serum AKR1B10 ( p