Evaluation of the clinical features of HCC following hepatectomy for different stages of HCC.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study was to evaluate and compare the clinical and pathological characteristics and patient outcomes after hepatic resection for different stages of HCC according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) classification system.

METHODOLOGY

Three hundred and sixteen primary hepatectomies for HCC were divided into stage 0-c, according to BCLC classification. The clinicopathological variables of the patients in each group were compared statistically.

RESULTS

There were significant differences in the incidence of capsular invasion, α-fetoprotein, blood loss, blood transfusion and tumor related number among each of the stage 0-C, respectively (p<0.05). Disease-free survival was influenced by histopathological grade (p=0.000), tumor capsule (p=0.015), tumor related number (p=0.000) and BCLC (p=0.000). Overall survival was influenced by histopathological grade (p=0.000), tumor capsule (p=0.035), tumor related number (p=0.005), cirrhosis (p=0.000) and BCLC (p=0.000).

CONCLUSIONS

HCC in stage 0 and A were closely correlated with a better prognosis, which reflected the relatively benign pathobiological features of HCC at an early developmental stage. In comparison, HCC in stages B and C exhibited a tendency towards a more aggressive phenotype. Our findings suggest that stage B classification is optimal for estimating the biological behavior and clinical prognosis of patients undergoing partial hepatectomy for early stage HCC.