Prognosis of early hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatic resection.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Clinicopathologic characteristics and postoperative prognosis of early hepatocellular carcinoma (eHCC) have not been clarified.

METHODOLOGY

Early HCC was designated as tumor purely composed of well-differentiated HCC not containing moderately or poorly differentiated component. Twenty seven patients with early HCC among 515 patients underwent hepatic resection for HCC were analyzed.

RESULTS

The survival rate at 5 years after hepatic resection of the patients with early HCC was 76%. No clinicopathologic factors correlated with the survival. The postoperative recurrence occurred in 19 (70%) patients, and nine patients survived more than five years free of recurrence. The levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase of the patients with recurrence within five years (n = 9) were much higher than those of the patients without recurrence (n = 18). The prognosis after recurrence of the patients with more than three tumors was significantly worse than that of the patients with one or two tumors (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

The survival rate of early HCC after hepatic resection is favorable, however, recurrence is considerably frequent and it depends on the degree of inflammation of underling liver disease. Therefore, the control of inflammation of liver parenchyma and the preservation of liver function may be most important in patients with early HCC.