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Immediate Radical Therapy or Conservative Treatments When Meeting the Milan Criteria for Advanced HCC Patients After Successful TACE

  • Original Article
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Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery Aims and scope

Abstract

Background and aims

Many advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases can be successfully downstaged into the Milan criteria; however, immediate radical therapy cannot be applied to all such patients for various reasons. Of the patients who are not eligible for immediate radical therapy, some accept repeated downstaging therapies and some undergo persistent observation. The aim of the present study was to compare long-term survival between these two groups of patients.

Patients and Methods

Between August 2003 and October 2008, 156 HCC patients successfully received downstaging therapy resulting in compliance with the Milan criteria. Of those, 98 cases accepted radical therapies, including liver transplantation (LT), resection, or radiofrequency ablation (RFA) (group 1), and 58 cases underwent repeated transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) or persistent observation (group 2). The baseline characteristics, demographic data, downstaging protocol, and information on long-term outcomes were collected and compared.

Results

No significant differences were observed in the patient demographic data, downstaging protocols, or tumor characteristics between the two groups. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates were 92.9, 82.7, and 78.6 %, respectively, in group 1, whereas these rates were 82.8, 65.5, and 48.3 %, respectively, in group 2 (P = 0.046). Among the 58 patients in group 2, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates were 92.3, 65.4, and 46.2 %, respectively, in the repeated TACE group, and 81.3, 65.6, and 50 %, respectively, in the persistent observation group (P = 0.783).

Conclusion

Immediate radical therapy should be the first choice for advanced HCC patients who undergo successful TACE, and repeated TACE is unnecessary.

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Abbreviations

LT:

Liver transplantation

TACE:

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization

HBV:

Hepatitis B virus

HCC:

Hepatocellular carcinoma

RFA:

Radiofrequency ablation

HCV:

Hepatitis C virus

AFP:

Alpha-fetoprotein

EI:

Ethanol injection

LDLT:

Living-donor liver transplantation

DDLT:

Deceased-donor liver transplantation

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the “The Chinese Liver Transplant Registry” for providing part of the data.

Conflict of interest

No benefits in any form have been received or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.

Author information

Author notes

  1. W. T. Wang

    Present address: Liver Transplantation Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Liver Surgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

    L. Jiang, J. Y. Lei, W. T. Wang, L. N. Yan, B. Li, T. F. Wen, M. Q. Xu, J. Y. Yang & Y. G. Wei

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  1. L. Jiang
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  2. J. Y. Lei
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to W. T. Wang.

Additional information

Jiang L and Lei JY contributed equally to this study and are co-first authors.

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Jiang, L., Lei, J.Y., Wang, W.T. et al. Immediate Radical Therapy or Conservative Treatments When Meeting the Milan Criteria for Advanced HCC Patients After Successful TACE. J Gastrointest Surg 18, 1125–1130 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11605-014-2508-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11605-014-2508-2

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