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Hepatic Resection and Prognosis for Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Larger Than 10 cm: Two Decades of Experience at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital

From the Department of Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Correspondence: Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Chun-Nan Yeh, MD, Department of Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 5, Fu-Hsing Street, Kwei-Shan, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Fax: 886-3-328-5818; E-mail: ycn{at}adm.cgmh.org.tw

Background: Although screening programs in high-risk populations have facilitated the detection of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), some HCC patients continue to present with advanced, large tumors. However, reports of hepatic resection for HCC larger than 10 cm (L-HCC) are limited. This study aims to determine the clinicopathologic factors that influence the prognosis of hepatic resection for L-HCC.

Methods: The clinical features of 211 L-HCC patients undergoing hepatic resection were reviewed. Clinical features and factors influencing the outcome of 985 patients with HCC smaller than 10 cm (S-HCC) were used for comparison.

Results: Of 1196 surgically resected HCCs, 211 (17.6%) were L-HCC. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the presence of dull abdominal pain, a low indocyanine green retention rate value, a high percentage of alfa fetoprotein (AFP) >400 ng/mL, major hepatectomy, absence of tumor capsule formation, satellite lesions, and vascular invasion were the seven main independent factors differentiating L-HCC from S-HCC patients. Significantly worse overall survival was noted in L-HCC patients, especially those with tumor rupture, satellite lesions, AFP >400 ng/mL, and blood loss of >1 L during surgery.

Conclusions: Hepatic resection, when feasible, is safe and is the preferred treatment for L-HCC patients. However, overall and disease-free survival for L-HCC are worse than for S-HCC. Disease-free survival for L-HCC patients undergoing hepatic resection is significantly influenced by a high value of alkaline phosphatase and by AFP. Overall survival for L-HCC patients undergoing hepatic resection is significantly influenced by a high value of AFP, blood loss, tumor rupture, and satellite lesions.

Key Words: Hepatocellular carcinoma • Hepatic resection • Prognosis • Survival

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