Prognosis of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma: A 10-year surgical experience in Japan

Background & Aims: Little has been addressed on the characteristics and prognostic factors of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma after undergoing a hepatic resection for primary hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of this study was to clarify the aforementioned matters of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: One hundred fifty-nine patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma were studied retrospectively. Twenty-four clinicopathologic variables, including the period until recurrence (less than or more than 1 year), types of recurrence (intrahepatic nodular type, intrahepatic multiple type, and extrahepatic type), and types of treatment after recurrence (no treatment, lipiodolization, ethanol injection, or hepatectomy) were univariately and multivariately analyzed. Results: The following three variables were finally selected as independent and prognostic indicators after recurrence: (1) period until recurrence, (2) type of recurrence, and (3) types of treatment after recurrence. Conclusions: The prognostic factors in patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma were as follows: (1) period until recurrence, (2) types of recurrence, and (3) types of treatments received after recurrence, The establishment of a follow-up system, including an examination for extrahepatic recurrence, and the development of an effective method of adjuvant chemotherapy are required to obtain better treatment results.