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Prognostic impact of anatomical resection on early and late intrahepatic recurrence in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

  • Original article
  • Published:
Journal of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery

Abstract

Background/Purpose

Little has been addressed regarding the impact of the type of resection, which can be anatomical or nonanatomical, for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), from the viewpoint of early (≤2-year) and late (>2-year) intrahepatic recurrence. The aim of the present study was to investigate this issue.

Methods

Between 1990 and 2004, we performed 365 potentially curative liver resections. Among these, 233 patients with a solitary tumor were the subjects of this study. They were classified into two groups: anatomical resection (n = 106) and nonanatomical resection (n = 127). We evaluated the following outcomes: (1) early and late recurrence rates; (2) topography of the recurrent tumors; and (3) risk factors for early recurrence.

Results

The early recurrence rate after anatomical resection was significantly lower than that after nonanatomical resection: recurrence rates at 1 and 2 years were 13.8% and 29.8%, respectively, in the former group; while they were 22.6% and 46.3%, respectively, in the latter group (P = 0.01; log-rank test). However, late recurrence rates were similar in the two groups (P = 0.36). Local recurrence was observed in 25 of the 89 patients with intrahepatic recurrence after nonanatomical resection (28%), whereas it was observed in 3 of the 64 patients with intrahepatic recurrence after anatomical resection (5%), showing a significantly lower local recurrence rate in the anatomical resection group (P = 0.0002). Cox multivariate analysis identified the type of resection employed as one of the variables contributing to early HCC recurrence (nonanatomical resection: hazard ratio, 1.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01–3.37).

Conclusions

Anatomical resection would be a more appropriate strategy than nonanatomical resection for preventing early intrahepetic recurrence in patients with solitary HCC. However, the type of resection has no significant influence on late recurrence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. First Department of Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto, 390-8621, Japan

    Akira Kobayashi, Shinichi Miyagawa, Shiro Miwa & Takenari Nakata

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  1. Akira Kobayashi
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  2. Shinichi Miyagawa
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  3. Shiro Miwa
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  4. Takenari Nakata
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Kobayashi, A., Miyagawa, S., Miwa, S. et al. Prognostic impact of anatomical resection on early and late intrahepatic recurrence in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg 15, 515–521 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00534-007-1293-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00534-007-1293-7

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