Caffeine Clearance Study in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

PISIT TANGKUVANICH,M.D.*, THAMMARAT KUSONSOLBOON, B.Sc**, VAROCHA MAHACHAI, M.D.*** SUPEECHA WITTAYALERTPANYA, M.Sc.**, DUANGPORN THONG-NGAM, M.D.***,

Affiliation : * Department of Biochemistry, ** Department of Pharmacology, *** Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine. Chulalongkorn University Hospital. Bangkok I 0330, Thailand.

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to evaluate hepatic metabolic capacity in cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We compared plasma caffeine clearance, calculated hy two point analysis, between patients with cirrhosis alone and cirrhosis complicated with HCC. These two groups were comparable with regards to age, sex, and the severity of liver disease. graded by Child-Pugh score as compensated and decompensated cases. From our result, caffeine clearance in compensated cases was clearly higher than that of decompensated cases in both groups studied, particularly in the HCC group (p=O.OOI). The mean value of caffeine clearance in HCC patients correlated well with the tumor staging as classified hy Okuda's criteria. There was also a reversal correlation between tumor size and the clearance tested in compensated cases of HCC (p=0.046), but this finding was not detected in decompensated cases (p>0.05). We conclude that the determination of caffeine clearance can serve as a useful parameter for the asssessment of hepatic functional reserve in cirrhotic patients complicated with HCC, and may he a useful pre- dictor for survival outcome.

Keywords : Caffeine Clearance, Cirrhosis, Hepatocellular Carcinoma

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