Association of inflammatory biomarkers with long-term outcomes after curative surgery for mass-forming intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Purpose Inflammatory biomarkers such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are reportedly predictive of the long-term outcomes of several cancers. We evaluated their correlations with the post-surgical long-term outcomes of patients with mass-forming (MF) intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Methods The subjects of this study were 52 patients who underwent hepatic resection for MF-ICC at our hospital. We measured the cutoff values of NLR, LMR and PLR, using receiver operating characteristic curves, and compared the survival rates of patients with high vs. those with low values. We also evaluated a prognostic scoring system based on significant inflammatory biomarkers. Results The cutoff values for NLR, LMR, and PLR were 1.93, 4.78, and 98, respectively. The high-NLR and low-LMR groups had significantly worse prognoses than the low-NLR and high-LMR groups. We designed a scoring system using the inflammation score (IS) based on NLR and LMR values, stratifying patients into three groups with scores of 0, 1, or 2. The IS was significantly correlated with overall survival (OS), with 5-year survival rates by the IS score of 100% for 0, 61% for 1, and 32% for 2 (P = 0.011). The IS was found to be an independent predictor of OS in multivariate analysis. Conclusions Our IS scoring system may predict long-term outcomes after surgery for MF-ICC

Suppression of optineurin impairs the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma through regulating mitophagy

Abstract Autophagy removes damaged organelles to inhibit malignant transformation during tumor initiation. Once a cancer matures, it uses the autophagic pathway as an energy source. Optineurin (OPTN) is an autophagy adaptor protein that recruits microtubule‐associated protein 1 light chain 3, an autophagosome marker, to the autophagosome. Despite studies of the relation between cancer progression and autophagy adaptor proteins, there are no reports to our knowledge of a correlation between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and OPTN. We aimed here to investigate the effects of OPTN expression on HCC progression through autophagy. Immunohistochemistry was used to measure the OPTN expression in the tissues of 141 Japanese patients with HCC. The effects of OPTN expression on HCC progression and mitophagy were assessed using an OPTN knockout (KO) cell line in vitro. We used this KO cell line to establish and exploit a mouse model of HCC to determine the effects of OPTN expression on tumor progression. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that patients with elevated expression of OPTN experienced shorter overall survival (OS) and recurrence‐free survival (RFS). OPTN KO cells proliferated relatively slower versus wild‐type (WT) cells in vitro. Western blot analysis showed that mitophagy was suppressed in OPTN KO cells, and ATP synthesis and beta‐oxidation were reduced. The mouse model of HCC showed that OPTN KO cells formed smaller tumors versus WT cells less 10 weeks after implantation. Overall, the present findings suggest that OPTN is a key mediator of mitophagy that contributes to HCC progression through mitochondrial energy production

Primary intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with sarcomatous stroma: case report and review of the literature

Abstract Background Hepatic carcinosarcomas, which include both carcinomatous and sarcomatous elements, are uncommon in adults. Although carcinosarcoma in hepatocellular carcinoma is occasionally reported, carcinosarcoma in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is an extremely rare ICC variant. Few such cases have been reported in English and no large study of its clinicopathological features exists. Case presentation Here, we report a 60-year-old man with an asymptomatic hepatic B infection who developed hepatic carcinosarcoma from an otherwise normal liver. The 6.0-cm tumor was accidentally discovered by PET-CT in a cancer examination. Serum examinations showed no elevation of tumor markers. He underwent left and caudate lobectomy of the liver. The diagnosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with sarcomatous stroma was based on thorough pathologic examination and immunohistochemical staining. The tumor exhibited adenocarcinomatous and sarcomatous components; the adenocarcinomatous element was positive for epithelial markers, the sarcomatous element was positive for mesenchymal markers, but negative for epithelial markers. The patient made an uneventful recovery after surgery. At present, 14 months after surgery, he remains well with no evidence of tumor recurrence. Conclusions We report an unusual case of hepatic carcinosarcoma (intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with sarcomatous stroma) and discuss the etiology and prognosis of this rare disease

Solitary fibrous tumor in the liver: case report and literature review

Abstract Background Solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs) are uncommon mesenchymal neoplasms that present most commonly at intrathoracic sites. SFTs of the liver are rare, with only a few having been reported in the English-language literature. We report a rare case of a hepatic SFT and literature review. Case presentation A 49-year-old woman underwent surgery for a cranial hemangiopericytoma two decades previously. She currently presented with malaise. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed a huge, sharply demarcated mass in the anterior segment of the liver. Tumor marker levels were within the normal range. Following central bisegmentectomy of the liver, histological examination of the specimen revealed that the tumor was composed of spindle and fibroblast-like cells with collagenous stroma. Immunohistochemically, the spindle cells were negative for CD34 but positive for STAT6. The NAB2–STAT6 fusion gene was detected by the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. A diagnosis of SFT was thus confirmed histopathologically and genetically. Conclusions The SFT of the liver is an uncommon finding. Because there are no specific imaging features, it is difficult to diagnose the hepatic SFT preoperatively. We consider that careful surgical resection and postoperative follow-up are necessary for hepatic SFTs