Hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma

Background The significance of pTNM staging of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as a prognostic factor after hepatic resection was evaluated. Patients and methods The prognoses were analyzed in 262 patients treated with hepatic resection for HCC. Results As a whole, the pTNM stages correlated well with the survival rates. The survival rates of stage I and II patients were significantly higher than those of stages III and IV. However, there was no significant difference in survivals between stage I and II, and between stage III and IV-A. The survival rates of the patients treated with segmentectomy or lobectomy in stages I and II were significantly higher than those with subsegmentectomy or smaller resection. Multi-variate analysis revealed that tumor size greater than 2 cm, multiple gross tumors, surgical margin less than 1 cm, and Child C classification were independently significant factors of poor survival. Conclusions The results of hepatic resection for HCC should be stratified by pTNM staging and by Child classification of hepatic function before comparison.