[Surgical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma. Retrospective study of 42 cases]

We studied the results 42 liver resections performed for hepatocellular carcinoma. Thirty-three patients underwent major liver resections. Hepatocellular carcinomas were associated with cirrhosis in 30.9 p. 100 of cases. The overall operative mortality was 24.3 p. 100: 60 p. 100 in patients with cirrhosis who underwent major liver resections and 12.5 p. 100 in patients with cirrhosis undergoing limited resections. The overall 5-year survival rate was 14.8 p. 100; the 5-year survival rate in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma without cirrhosis was 20 p. 100 whereas no patient with associated cirrhosis of the liver survived at 3 years. We conclude that surgical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma must be performed whenever possible: a limited resection should be done if the tumor is small, especially in patients with cirrhosis; a major liver resection must be proposed when the tumor is large and if the remaining liver parenchyma is normal.