Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the prediction of early tumor recurrence by predictive nutritional index （PNI） and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio （NLR） in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） undergoing hepatectomy.Methods The clinical data of 237 patients with HCC were recruited in Anhui Provincial Hospital between January 2012 and December 2015,and all patients underwent partial hepatectomy. The PNI and NLR receiver operating characteristic curves（ROC） were plotted. Multivariate Logistic analysis was applied to predict the risk factors for postoperative early tumor recurrence.Results There were 128 patients with high （≥45.95） and 109 patients with low PNI score （<45.95）,and 99 patients with high （≥2.52） and 138 patients with low NLR score（<2.52）;the early tumor recurrence rate in patients with high PNI score was 51.6% （66/128）,much lower than 73.4% （80/109） in those with low PNI score（P<0.01）,and the early tumor recurrence rate in patients with low NLR score was 55.8% （77/138）,significantly lower than 69.7% （69/99） in those with high NLR score（P<0.05）;Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed high PNI score（HR=2.036） 95% CI=1.113-3.722,P=0.021）,low NLR score（HR=2.235,95% CI=1.221-4.091,P=0.009） and advanced TNM staging（HR=2.540,95% CI=1.237-5.215,P=0.011） were the independent risk factors for early tumor recurrence after radical resection of liver cancer. Conclusion The calculation of PNI and NLR pre-operationally might help predict the early tumor recurrence after hepatectomy in patients with HCC.

Key words: Hepatoma, Hepatectomy, Predictive nutritional index, Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, Early tumor recurrence