Lymphopenia Is Associated with Gross Target Volumes and Fractions in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Treated with External Beam Radiation Therapy and Also Indicates Worse Overall Survival

Purpose To investigate whether lymphocyte nadir induced by radiation is associated with survival and explore its underlying risk factors in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Total lymphocyte counts were collected from 184 HCC patients treated by radiotherapy (RT) with complete follow-up. Associations between gross tumor volumes (GTVs) and radiation-associated parameters with lymphocyte nadir were evaluated by Pearson/Spearman correlation analysis and multiple linear regression. Kaplan–Meier analysis, log-rank test, as well as univariate and multivariate Cox regression were performed to assess the relationship between lymphocyte nadir and overall survival (OS). Results GTVs and fractions were negatively related with lymphocyte nadir (p < 0.001 and p=0.001, respectively). Lymphocyte nadir and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage were independent prognostic factors predicting OS of HCC patients (all p < 0.001). Patients in the GTV ≤55.0 cc and fractions ≤16 groups were stratified by lymphocyte nadir, and the group with the higher lymphocyte counts (LCs) showed longer survival than the group with lower LCs (p < 0.001 and p=0.006, respectively). Patient distribution significantly differed among the RT fraction groups according to BCLC stage (p < 0.001). However, stratification of patients in the same BCLC stage by RT fractionation showed that the stereotactic body RT (SBRT) group achieved the best survival. Furthermore, there were significant differences in lymphocyte nadir among patients in the SBRT group. Conclusions A lower lymphocyte nadir during RT was associated with worse survival among HCC patients. Smaller GTVs and fractions reduced the risk of lymphopenia.