Is liver resection still required for patients who have predictive factors for complete pathologic necrosis after downstaging treatments of locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma?

Background

Liver resection can induce complete remission after tumor downstaging in patients with locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. However, additional benefits of liver resection have not been investigated in patients expected to have complete pathological necrosis (CPN) following HCC downstaging.

Methods

Between 2002 and 2019, 999 patients with locally advanced HCC underwent concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) (n = 800) or transarterial radioembolization (TARE) (n = 199). Among these patients, excluding those who underwent liver transplantation, 94 who underwent liver resection (OP group) and 867 who did not undergo surgical treatment (non-OP group) were included in this study. CPN predictive factors in the OP group were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. Long-term outcomes were compared between patients with CPN (op-CPN) and those with CPN predictive factors in the non-OP group (nop-CPNPF).

Results

Of the 94 patients in the OP group, 38 (40.4 %) had CPN (CCRT, n = 72; TARE, n = 22). In the multivariate analysis, CPN predictive factors were complete radiologic response and tumor marker responders (odds ratio [OR] 18.468, p = 0.006; OR 3.698, p = 0.045). Among the non-OP group, 21 patients were in the nop-CPNPF group. There was no difference in DFS between the nop-CPNPF and op-CPN groups (40.0 ± 18.3 vs. 60.0 ± 14.0 months, p = 0.838). The OS of the op-CPN group was not higher than that of the nop-CPNPF group (5-year OS: 39.4 % vs. 33.3 %, p = 0.328).

Conclusions

The nop-CPNPF group showed long-term outcomes similar to those of the op-CPN group, suggesting that liver resection may not provide additional benefits for long-term outcomes in patients with CPN-PF after HCC downstaging.