Association of diabetes mellitus with long-term prognosis after ablation therapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: A single-center cohort study.

Background: This study investigated the clinical efficacy and prognostic factors of ablative treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with and without diabetes mellitus (DM).

Methods: Retrospective data were collected from HCC patients who underwent ablation between January 2016 and December 2019. The baseline clinicopathological characteristics and long-term outcomes, such as overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS), were compared between those with and without DM. Predictive factors associated with survival and recurrence were identified through univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses.

Results: Of the 3528 patients enrolled in the study, 588 (16.7%) had concurrent DM. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year RFS rates in patients with DM (73.8%, 33.7%, and 5.8%, respectively) were significantly (P < 0.001) lower than those in the non-DM patients (70.4%, 37.6%, and 18.6%, respectively). Likewise, significant differences (P < 0.001) in the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were observed between the DM (99.9%, 78.1%, and 29.1%, respectively) and non-DM (99.9%, 85.9%, and 54.3%, respectively) patients. Multivariable Cox regression analysis identified DM as an independent risk factor for OS [hazard ratio (HR), 1.982; P < 0.001] and RFS (HR, 1.175; P = 0.002).

Conclusion: Patients with DM exhibited a poorer oncological prognosis than those without DM following ablation for HCC. DM was identified as an independent factor influencing the prognosis of HCC patients after curative ablation. Thus, active therapies targeting DM might enhance oncological outcomes and facilitate individualized treatment decisions.