Factors influencing the short-term and long-term survival of hepatocellular carcinoma patients with portal vein tumor thrombosis who underwent chemoembolization.

Background: The factors affecting the short-term and long-term prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) receiving transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) are still unclear.

Aim: To clarify the predictors correlated with the short-term and long-term survival of HCC patients with PVTT who underwent TACE.

Methods: The medical records of 181 HCC patients with PVTT who underwent TACE at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2015 to July 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. We explored the short-term and long-term prognostic factors by comparing the preoperative indicators of patients who died and survived within 3 mo and 12 mo after TACE. Multivariate analyses were conducted using logistic regression. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (area under curve) was used to evaluate the predictive ability of the factors related to the short-term and long-term prognosis.

Results: The median survival time was 4.8 mo (range: 2.5-8.85 mo). The 3 mo, 6 mo, and 12 mo survival rates were 68.5%, 38.7%, and 15.5%, respectively. In multivariable analysis, total bilirubin, sex, and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were closely linked to short-term survival. When AST ≥ 87 U/L and total bilirubin ≥ 16.15 µmol/L, the 3-mo survival rate after TACE was reduced significantly ( < 0.05). AST had the best predictive ability, followed by total bilirubin, while sex had the worst predictive ability for short-term survival area under curve: 0.763 (AST) 0.707 (total bilirubin) 0.554 (sex)]. The long-term survival outcome was significantly better in patients with a single lesion than in those with ≥ three lesions ( = 0.009). Patients with massive block HCC had a worse long-term survival than patients with nodular and diffuse HCC ( = 0.001).

Conclusion: AST, total bilirubin, and sex are independent factors associated with short-term survival. The number of tumors and the gross pathological type of tumor are related to the long-term outcome.