TITLE:
Vascular Invasion, Satellite Nodules and Absence of Tumor Capsule Strongly Correlate with Disease-Free Survival and Long-Term Outcome in Patients Resected for Hepatocellular Carcinoma
AUTHORS:
Benedetta Pesi, Luca Moraldi, Daniela Zambonin, Francesco Giudici, Tiziana Cavalli, Rami Addasi, Francesca Leo, Stefano Scaringi, Giacomo Batignani
KEYWORDS:
Liver Resection, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Prognostic Factors, Vascular Invasion, Satellite Nodules
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cancer Therapy,
Vol.5 No.14,
December
3,
2014
ABSTRACT: Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancer
in the world. Liver resection (LR)
is the most used therapy in well compensated
liver cirrhosis and maybe used as a first-line treatment. Aim of the study is
to evaluate survival rates in patients who underwent LR for HCC and to identify
risk factors able to influence the prognosis. Material/Method: A retrospective study was carried out
in 115 patients whounderwent LR
for HCC. We evaluated overall and disease-free survival rates at 1, 3 and 5years (y) and a series of variables
included: type of resection, clamping, blood loss, transfusions, tumor size,
presence of capsule, satellite nodules and vascular invasion. Results: The 1-, 3-, 5-y
survival rates were 90.2%, 67% and 52.7%, and disease-free survival rates were
75.3%, 44.7% and 28.4%, respectively. We have found presence/ absence of capsulated tumor (p = 0.05), satellite nodules (p = 0.004) and vascular invasion (p = 0.001)
as factors able to influence the overall survival and the disease-free survival
(p = 0.04 for capsulated tumor, p = 0.01
for satellite nodules and p = 0.006 for vascular invasion).
Conclusion: LR is the best therapeutic
option for HCC when liver transplantation is contraindicated, with good
survival rates. Presence of capsule, satellite nodules and vascular invasion
are the most important factors able to influence the prognosis.