Underlying liver disease, not tumor factors, predicts long-term survival after resection of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hypothesis: A subset of patients can be identified who will survive without recurrence beyond 5 years after hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Design: A retrospective review of a multi-institutional database of 591 patients who had undergone hepatic resection for HCC and on-site reviews of clinical records and pathology slides.

Setting: All patients had been treated in academic referral centers within university-based hospitals.

Patients: We identified 145 patients who had survived for 5 years or longer after hepatic resection for HCC.

Main Outcome Measures: Clinical and pathologic factors, as well as scoring of hepatitis and fibrosis in the surrounding liver parenchyma, were assessed for possible association with survival beyond 5 years and cause of death among the 145 five-year survivors.

Results: Median additional survival duration longer than 5 years was 4.1 years. Women had significantly longer median additional survival durations than did men (81 months vs 38 months, respectively, after the 5-year mark) (P =.008). Surgical margins, type of resection, an elevated preoperative alpha-fetoprotein level, and the presence of multiple tumors or microscopic vascular invasion had no bearing on survival longer than 5 years. However, patients who survived for 5 years who also had normal underlying liver or minimal fibrosis (score, 0-2) at surgery had significantly longer additional survival than did patients with moderate fibrosis (score, 3-4) or severe fibrosis/cirrhosis (score, 5-6) (P<.001).

Conclusions: Death caused by HCC is rare beyond 5 years after resection of HCC in the absence of fibrosis or cirrhosis. The data suggest that chronic liver disease acts as a field of cancerization contributing to new HCC. These patients may benefit from therapies directed at the underlying liver disease.