Abstract
Assessment of underlying liver function influences all aspects of the management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from diagnosis and treatment to prognosis. Despite extensive and well-recognised limitations, the Child-Pugh score (CPS) is the most widely used grading system. Patients with CPS āAā are optimal for liver-directed therapy and CP āCā are usually excluded for all therapies apart from liver transplantation. The MELD is a statistically developed and widely validated system that is used mainly for prioritisation of candidates for liver transplantation. The recently developed ALBI score has many advantages over the CPS, being simple, evidence-based, objective and extensively validated, but it remains to be seen if ALBI will replace the CPS.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Durand F, Valla D. Assessment of prognosis of cirrhosis. Semin Liver Dis. 2008;28:110ā22.
Christensen E. Prognostic models including the Child-Pugh, MELD and Mayo risk scoresāwhere are we and where should we go? J Hepatol. 2004;41:344ā50.
Angermayr B, Cejna M, Karnel F, et al. Child-Pugh versus MELD score in predicting survival in patients undergoing transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt. Gut. 2003;52:879ā85.
Malinchoc M, Kamath PS, Gordon FD, et al. A model to predict poor survival in patients undergoing transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts. Hepatology. 2000;31:864ā71.
Pessione F, Ramond MJ, Peters L, et al. Five-year survival predictive factors in patients with excessive alcohol intake and cirrhosis. Effect of alcoholic hepatitis, smoking and abstinence. Liver Int. 2003;23:45ā53.
European Association for the Study of the Liver. European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer. EASLāEORTC Clinical Practice Guidelines: Management of hepatocellular carcinoma. J Hepatol. 2012;56(4):908ā43.
Wiesner R, Edwards E, Freeman R, et al. Model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) and allocation of donor livers. Gastroenterology. 2003;124:91ā6.
Durand F, Valla D. Assessment of the prognosis of cirrhosis: Child-Pugh versus MELD. J Hepatol. 2005;42(Suppl):S100ā7.
Trotter JF, Olson J, Lefkowitz J, et al. Changes in international normalized ratio (INR) and model for endstage liver disease (MELD) based on selection of clinical laboratory. Am J Transplant. 2007;7:1624ā8.
Cholongitas E, Marelli L, Kerry A, et al. Different methods of creatinine measurement significantly affect MELD scores. Liver Transpl. 2007;13:523ā9.
Nankivell BJ. Creatinine clearance and the assessment of renal function. Aust Prescr. 2001;24:15ā7.
Johnson PJ, Berhane S, Kagebayashi C, et al. Assessment of liver function in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: A new evidence-based approach-the ALBI grade. J Clin Oncol. 2015;33:550ā8.
Zou D, Qi X, Zhu C, et al. Albumin-bilirubin score for predicting the in-hospital mortality of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding in liver cirrhosis: A retrospective study. Turk J Gastroenterol. 2016;27:180ā6.
Hemming AW, Scudamore CH, Shackleton CR, et al. Indocyanine green clearance as a predictor of successful hepatic resection in cirrhotic patients. Am J Surg. 1992;163:515ā8.
Makuuchi M, Kosuge T, Takayama T, et al. Surgery for small liver cancers. Semin Surg Oncol. 1993;9:298ā304.
Toyoda H, Lai PB, OāBeirne J, et al. Long-term impact of liver function on curative therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: application of the ALBI grade. Br J Cancer. 2016;114:744ā50.
Hickey R, Mouli S, Kulik L, et al. Independent Analysis of Albumin-Bilirubin Grade in a 765-Patient Cohort Treated with Transarterial Locoregional Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 27(6):795ā802. doi:10.1016/j.jvir.2016.03.005. Epub 2016 Mar 31.
Waked I, Berhane S, Toyoda H, et al. Transarterial chemo-embolisation of hepatocellular carcinoma: impact of liver function and vascular invasion. Br J Cancer. 2017;116(4):448ā54. doi:10.1038/bjc.2016.423. Epub 2017 Jan 26. [PubMed PMID: 28125820; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5318968].
Chan AW, Kumada T, Toyoda H, et al. Integration of albuminābilirubin (ALBI) score into Barcelona clinic liver cancer (BCLC) system for hepatocellular carcinoma. J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2016;31(7):1300ā6. doi:10.1111/jgh.13291.
Chan AW, Chong CC, Mo FK, et al. Applicability of albumin-bilirubin-based Japan integrated staging score in hepatitis B-associated hepatocellular carcinoma. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;31(10):1766ā72. doi:10.1111/jgh.13339. [PubMed PMID: 26992142].
Chan AW, Chong CC, Mo FK, et al. Incorporating albumin-bilirubin grade into the cancer of the liver Italian program system for hepatocellular carcinoma. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017;32(1):221ā8. doi:10.1111/jgh.13457. [PubMed PMID: 27257086].
Shao YY, Liu TH, Lee YH, et al. Modified CLIP with objective liver reserve assessment retains prognosis prediction for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;31(7):1336ā41. doi:10.1111/jgh.13312.
Hiraoka A, Kumada T, Michitaka K, et al. Usefulness of albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade for evaluation of prognosis of 2584 Japanese patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;31(5):1031ā6. doi:10.1111/jgh.13250.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
Ā© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Johnson, P.J., Khan, H., Berhane, S. (2017). Assessment of Liver Function: Focus on the ALBI Score. In: Meyer, J., Schefter, T. (eds) Radiation Therapy for Liver Tumors. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54531-8_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54531-8_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-54530-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-54531-8
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)