Clinical Role of Newly Developed ALBI and mALBI Grades for Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of death worldwide. The selection of therapeutic modalities and the prognosis of affected patients are well known to be dependent not only on the tumor burden but also on the hepatic reserve function. Antiviral treatments for chronic hepatitis related to a viral infection and an increase in cases of nonviral HCC associated with the aging of society have resulted in dramatic changes regarding the characteristics of HCC patients. With recent developments in therapeutic modalities for HCC, a more detailed assessment of hepatic function has become an important need. Studies in which the relationship of albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade with the prognosis of HCC patients was investigated were reviewed in order to evaluate the usefulness of newly developed ALBI and modified ALBI (mALBI) grades for HCC treatment, as those scoring methods are considered helpful for predicting the prognosis and selecting therapeutic modalities based on the expected prognosis.

Keywords

• albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade
• modified ALBI grade
• hepatocellular carcinoma
• molecular targeting agent
• resection
• radiofrequency ablation