Impact of frailty on long-term outcomes after liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma in elderly patients: A prospective study.

Background: sFrailty affects short-term outcomes after liver resection in elderly patients. However, frailty's effects on long-term outcomes after liver resection in elderly patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are unknown.

Methods: This prospective, single-center study included 81 independently living patients aged ≥65 years scheduled to undergo liver resection for initial HCC. Frailty was evaluated according to the Kihon Checklist, a phenotypic frailty index." We investigated and compared postoperative long-term outcomes after liver resection between patients with and without frailty.

Results: Of the 81 patients, 25 (30.9%) were frail. The proportion of patients with cirrhosis, high serum alpha-fetoprotein level (≥200 ng/mL), and poorly differentiated HCC was higher in the frail group than in the nonfrail group (n = 56). Among the patients with postoperative recurrence, the incidence of extrahepatic recurrence was higher in the frail group than in the nonfrail group (30.8% vs. 3.6%, P = 0.028). Moreover, the proportion of patients who underwent repeat liver resection and ablation for recurrence who met the Milan criteria tended to be lower in the frail group than in the nonfrail group. Although there was no difference in disease-free survival between the two groups, the overall survival rate in the frail group was significantly worse than that in the nonfrail group (5-year overall survival: 42.7% vs. 77.2%, P = 0.005). Results of the multivariate analysis indicated that frailty and blood loss were independent prognostic factors for postoperative survival.

Conclusion: Frailty is associated with unfavorable long-term outcomes after liver resection in elderly patients with HCC.