Preoperative aspartate aminotransferase to albumin ratio correlates with tumor characteristics and predicts outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma patients after curative hepatectomy: a multicenter study

Aims This study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of the preoperative aminotransferase to albumin ratio (AAR) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after hepatectomy. Methods From five hospitals, a total of 991 patients with HCC admitted between December 2014 and December 2019 were included as the primary cohort and 883 patients with HCC admitted between December 2010 and December 2014 were included as the validation cohort. The X-tile software was conducted to identify the optimal cut-off value of AAR. Results In the primary cohort, the optimal cut-off value of the AAR was defined as 0.7 and 1.6, respectively. Compared to patients with AAR 0.7–1.6, those with AAR > 1.6 showed significantly worse overall survival (OS) and RFS, whereas those with AAR < 0.7 showed significantly better OS and RFS (all p < 0.001). Pathologically, patients with AAR > 1.6 had more aggressive tumour characteristics, such as larger tumour size, higher incidence of microvascular invasion, and severe histologic activity, and higher AFP level than patients with AAR < 0.7. Consistently, the abovementioned clinical significance of AAR was confirmed in the validation cohort. Conclusions A high AAR was significantly correlated with advanced tumours and severe hepatic inflammation, and a worse prognosis of HCC.