Background/aim: This study aimed to retrospectively analyse adverse predictors to identify patients with huge hepatocellular carcinoma who were not appropriate candidates for hepatic resection.
Patients and methods: From 551 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent hepatectomy between 1992 and 2019, 92 were diagnosed with huge hepatocellular carcinoma (diameter >10 cm) and 115 were diagnosed with large hepatocellular carcinoma (diameter=5-10 cm). Clinical features and overall and disease-free survival rates were compared between the two groups.
Results: Cumulative overall survival was significantly worse in the huge group than in the large group (p=0.035). In the huge group, multivariate analyses revealed that liver cirrhosis, multiple intrahepatic metastases (≥4), poor histological grade, and macroscopic portal vein invasion were significantly associated with poor prognosis.
Conclusion: We identified four adverse predictors of survival and determined that patients with two or more predictors are not appropriate candidates for straightforward hepatic resection.
Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; liver resection; mortality; recurrence; surgery.
Copyright © 2022 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.