Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to analyze the metabolic syndrome (MetS) relevant risk factors for disease progression in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods A retrospective study was performed on the clinical data of 203 patients with HCC admitted to the Department of Hepatobiliary Pancreatic Surgery, Eighth Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat-sen University between January 2013 and December 2021, and out of them, the concomitant MetS was found in 89 cases, and wasn’t in 114 cases. The disease progression was defined as intrahepatic tumor metastasis, blood vessel invasion, tumor diameter larger than 5 cm, lymph node metastasis and remote metastasis. The multivariate Logistic regression analysis was applied to reveal the risk factors. Results The fasting plasma glucose (FPG), serum bilirubin, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglyceride levels in patients with MetS were (6.6±1.4)mmol/L, (48.3±16.2)μmol/L, (0.9±0.3)mmol/L and (1.5±0.8)mmol/L, significantly different as compared to [(5.4±1.9)mmol/L, (22.9±7.2)μmol/L, (1.2±0.3) mmol/L and (1.0±0.5)mmol/L, respectively, P<0.05] in HCC patients without; the incidences of hepatitis B viral infection, intrahepatic tumor metastasis, lymph node metastasis, central obesity and blood hypertension in patients with MetS were 73.0%, 52.8%, 32.6%, 78.7% and 69.7%, significantly different compared to 86.8%, 29.8%, 20.2%, 39.5% and 29.8% (P＜0.05) in patients without; the HCC patients with MetS were prone to having disease progression (P<0.05), and the multivariate Logistic analysis showed that decreased serum HDL, increased FPG, and hypertension were the independent risk factors for disease progression in patients with HCC(P<0.05). Conclusion The MetS components could promote intrahepatic and lymph node tumor metastasis, leading to disease progression in patients with HCC, which warrants further investigation.

Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma, Disease progression, Metabolic syndrome, Logistic regression, Risk factors