Abstract:Objective To evaluate the prognostic value of plasma heat shock protein 90α (HSP90α) combined with serum circDUSP16 for hepatocellular carcinoma after interventional therapy.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 89 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent transhepatic arterial chemoembolization (TACE) at Yulin Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from April 2019 to June 2021. The patients were classified into the death group and the survival group based on their 3-year prognosis. The clinical characteristics and the levels of plasma HSP90α and serum circDUSP16 were compared between the two groups, and the influencing factors for death after TACE treatment in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were analyzed. The predictive value of plasma HSP90α, serum circDUSP16 and their combination for death after TACE treatment in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma was determined.Results After a 3-year follow-up, the overall survival rate was 68.54% (61/89). The proportions of patients with AFP levels > 400 μg/L, tumor diameter > 5 cm, and stage IVa tumor were higher in the death group than in the survival group (P < 0.05). The levels of plasma HSP90α and serum circDUSP16 in the death group were higher than those in the survival group (P < 0.05). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that stage Ⅳa tumor [O^R = 4.175 (95% CI:1.670, 10.434) ], maximum tumor diameter > 5 cm [O^R = 3.732 (95% CI:1.493, 9.329) ], and high levels of plasma HSP90α [O^R = 2.770 (95% CI:1.108, 6.925) ] and serum circDUSP16 [O^R = 3.047 (95% CI:1.219, 7.615) ] were risk factors for the death of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (P < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve revealed that the sensitivities of plasma HSP90α, serum circDUSP16 and their combination in predicting the death of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after TACE were 78.57% (95% CI: 0.699, 0.856), 85.71% (95% CI: 0.763, 0.934) and 89.29% (95% CI: 0.795, 0.973), with the specificity being 83.61% (95% CI: 0.744, 0.911), 81.97% (95% CI: 0.730, 0.893) and 93.44% (95% CI: 0.832, 0.992), and the areas under the curves being 0.795 (95% CI: 0696, 0.879), 0.839 (95% CI: 0.749, 0.915) and 0.907 (95% CI: 0.826, 0.961), respectively (P < 0.05).Conclusion Plasma HSP90α combined with serum circDUSP16 has higher prognostic value for hepatocellular carcinoma following interventional therapy.