ALB and hepatocellular carcinoma: Albumin reduces the phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein and increases expression of p21 and p57 which causes the proliferation of G0/G1 cell population in the liver thereby slowing the spread of HCC.42 An additional function of albumin is immunomodulation which causes macrophage activation and triggers cell-mediated immunity against cancer cells.7 The second component of GNRI is body weight which is calculated as the ratio of current body weight to ideal body weight.