Nomogram and calculator for predicting the prognosis of patients with giant hepatocellular carcinoma

ABSTRACT

Objectives

This study aimed to explore the factors affecting the overall survival (OS) of giant hepatocellular carcinoma (G-HCC) patients and establish a nomogram and an Internet-based OS calculator for evaluating the OS of G-HCC patients.

Research design and methods

A total of 2445 G-HCC patients were searched in the SEER database. The independent variables affecting OS of G-HCC patients were determined by univariate and multivariate analyses, and a nomogram and Internet-based OS calculator were established. The accuracy of the nomogram was evaluated by the C-index, the AUC curve, and calibration curve.

Results

Grade, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, T-staging, M-staging, AFP, and fibrosis were identified as independent variables affecting OS. These variables were included in the nomogram model and Internet-based OS calculator to evaluate OS in G-HCC patients. The C-indices and AUC of the nomogram are better than AJCC-staging system. Similarly, the calibration curves revealed that the actual survival was consistent with nomogram-based survival.

Conclusion

The nomogram and Internet-based OS calculator are superior to the traditional AJCC-staging system in the reliability and convenience of prognosis assessment for G-HCC patients, which is more conducive for clinicians to predict the survival of G-HCC patients and make the best treatment strategy.

KEYWORDS:

• Giant hepatocellular carcinoma
• overall survival
• nomogram
• SEER
• calculator

Declaration of interests

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Hui Zhang, Ming Tan, Haibo Wang, Deng Liu, Shouwen Wang, and Tingting Gao for their help in preparing data and discussing the topic of the article.

Authors’ contributions

Wanjin Chen: Conceptualization, Methodology, and Writing- Original draft preparation. Ming Tan and Hui Zhang: Data collection and supervision. Haibo Wang, Deng Liu, Shouwen Wang, and Tingting Gao: Investigation, Supervision and Formal analysis. Shengtao Cheng: Conceptualization, Methodology, and Writing – Review & Editing.

Data availability statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors upon request.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14737140.2024.2369129.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by Scientific and Technological Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission (KJQN202300465 to STC).